Bangladesh News

For the past one week, residents in different parts of the capital are struggling to deal with a rather unpleasant whiff in the water supply.

The areas affected by the stinky water supplied by Wasa include Kamalapur, Gopibagh, Mugdapara, Maniknagar, Jatrabari, Khilgaon, Chowdhuripara, Basabo, Nayatola, Shantinagar, Rampura and parts of Mirpur.

It is not just the residential areas that are affected since establishments in the city’s commercial hub Motijheel and The Daily Star’s Karwan Bazar office also have to deal with the situation.

Basir Mahmud Ilias who works at Mizan Homeo Pharmacy of Toyenbee Circular Road complained that the filthy water smelt like rotten jute, so he dared not take a sip.

Gopibagh resident Saynuddin said: “We have to collect water from a deep tube-well at the Balu Math every day as we cannot drink this water because it smells really bad.”

Istiaq, a resident of Rampura, said taking a bath was a real nuisance because he had to apply a body spray to get rid of the disgusting odour. Not even boiling the water was any use.

“I have to buy a bottle of mineral water daily for my five-year-old daughter,” explained Anis, another resident of the area.

Wasa officials blamed river pollution and the use of additional chemicals at the Sayedabad water treatment plant for the crisis.

Md Nurul Islam, an executive engineer of Wasa, acknowledged the plant currently used more chemicals during the dry season since pollution levels in the surface water always remained high however there was no risk after consumption. The only noticeable change would be in the taste of the treated water.

In an effort to tackle the problem Wasa has decided to set up a pre-treatment unit at the Sayedabad plant. Denmark has agreed to finance construction of the unit at an estimated cost of Tk 829 crore. A local firm has been selected but is awaiting approval from the Danish government before the project can get underway.