KEY ISSUES
For the past two months, residents of East Kazipara and Shewrapara in Mirpur have been struggling with recurring water shortages, forcing many families to buy drinking water, depend on water tankers, and wait for hours to cook, bathe, and wash.
Rajani Hanif Himu, a resident of East Kazipara, said her family is considering moving to Khilgaon because of the persistent crisis.
“We have to buy five litres of drinking water every two days. Water supply is interrupted several times a week, and even when it returns, it often smells bad,” she said.
WHAT WASA SAYS
Delowar Hossain, the security guard at her apartment building, said dirty water enters the pipelines during rainfall. The 14-family building recently had to buy a tanker of water after regular supply was disrupted.
Momtaz Begum, caretaker of a tin-shed house with 13 tenant families in East Kazipara, said residents wait for water throughout the day – morning, afternoon, and night.
“Many people have to wait for hours just to bathe or wash their clothes,” she said.
She blamed the rapid construction of multi-storey buildings in the area, saying many use powerful pumps that reduce pressure in the regular supply lines.
“Those of us without private pumps are facing a severe water crisis,” she added.
Local pharmacy owner Azharul Islam Akand claimed cases of diarrhoea have almost doubled because of contaminated water.
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Mahmudul Haque, another resident of East Kazipara, said the crisis has persisted for years but worsened significantly over the past six months.
He alleged that water supplied to East Kazipara, particularly around Al Aqsa Mosque, is inadequate because the local pump primarily serves the Kazipara Bus Stand area.
He also claimed that damaged pipelines allow contaminated water to enter the supply lines during pressure fluctuations, contributing to diarrhoea and skin diseases.
The shortage has disrupted daily life, he said, forcing residents to fetch water from distant sources.
Haque also alleged that an informal syndicate controls tanker deliveries.
“Although the official rate is around Tk 300, residents often pay as much as Tk 800 for a small tanker because drivers demand extra payments,” he mentioned.
Dhaka WASA Executive Engineer (Zone-10) Asaduzzaman attributed the intermittent shortages in East and West Kazipara mainly to disruptions at the Bhakurta Water Treatment Plant.
“Whenever the Bhakurta plant faces operational problems, water supply in these areas is affected,” he said, adding that the plant was shut down for about four hours recently, causing temporary disruptions.
He said the plant has resumed normal operation and expressed hope that the situation would improve within a few days.
However, he acknowledged that the falling groundwater table is also contributing to the city’s water supply challenges.
EXPERTS’ TAKE
According to Asaduzzaman, the Bhakurta plant has a capacity of 150 million litres per day but is currently producing around 105 million litres.
He said the water supply generally remains stable when production exceeds 130 million litres and added that output is expected to improve during the monsoon.
At the Dhaka WASA pumping station near Mahfuz Clinic in East Shewrapara, operator Abu Hanif said the station now extracts only 1,200 litres of water per minute, down from 2,100 litres a year ago.
“The groundwater table has fallen sharply. Residents frequently complain about low water pressure, but unless another deep tube well is installed, there is little we can do,” he said.
He said no suitable land is available nearby for a new well.
Rezaul Karim, a staff member at another WASA pumping station near Monipur School, said production at his station has also dropped from 1,800 litres per minute last December to 1,200 litres now.
He attributed the decline to increasing groundwater depletion and rising demand driven by rapid urbanisation.
“Ten years ago, there were many vacant plots and tin-shed houses here. Now most have become multi-storey buildings, but no new water sources have been developed,” he said.
Adil Mohammed Khan, executive director of the Institute for Planning and Development, said the crisis reflects planning failures rather than a natural shortage.
“Mirpur, Kazipara, and Shewrapara within the larger Mirpur area have long been densely populated. With the introduction of the metro rail, has the government planned where the additional water, gas and electricity for a growing population will come from?” he asked.
Adil, also a former president of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, said groundwater in Dhaka, once available at depths of 30-40 metres around 2000, is now found at around 120 metres and continues to fall by roughly three metres every year.
“The real problem is the lack of coordination between urban planning and utility planning,” he said.
“Installing more groundwater pumps is not a sustainable solution. Dhaka must diversify its water sources by increasing the use of treated surface water while strengthening development control. Without integrated planning, the city’s water crisis will only worsen.”
