A comment by the managing director (MD) of the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority has fuelled ire of the residents of the city. His claim that water supplied by the WASA is fit for drinking -in his own words '100 per cent drinkable'-did not go well with the city's residents. Now, the claim was apparently aimed at refuting the Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) report that Dhaka residents have to spend a staggering sum of Tk 3.32 billion on boiling water annually. According to the TIB study, the volume of gas burnt to boil water is worth this amount.
When asked by newsmen if he drinks tap water, the MD emphatically declares that he drinks three types of water -tap water, boiled water and, when on the move outside, bottled water. Clearly, his response at the session of press conference produced a few chuckles from the reporters present. But not all the subscribers of WASA water were amused. At the receiving end of foul and filthy water, some residents decided to make their feeling known to the MD. In certain areas like Jurain, the quality of water supplied is so poor that some residents there decided to tender their protest in a novel way.
Among them, a family from Jurain brought the cent per cent potable water with them and prepared serbit (a kind of lemonade or handmade instant drink usually of water, sugar, salt and lemon juice) for the MD to drink and oblige them. Unfortunately, the MD was not in the office at the time and the family insisted that another high official drank it. But he refused to drink the serbit. Well, this official did what was expected of a sensible man. After all, he was not responsible for giving a false message to the subscribers. However, later on, the MD made it clear that he would not have drunk the serbit prepared by people unknown to him.
Further controversy has gone viral on the social media when the MD has claimed that the attempt to make him drink the lemonade was 'a drama'. The man extolled for the unique protest was rather a mental case, who gave wrong address. Water collected from the house of his brother was quite good and it was submitted for test at the WASA facility.
Now this has been countered by the protester named Mizanur Rahman. So, people are demanding that the result of the test of water be made public. Whichever way the matter ends up, does hardly alter the fact that direct tap water is unfit for drinking. People have to boil it or otherwise purify it before drinking. There is no point making outrageous claim. Playing the proverbial ostrich would not improve the quality of water. There is need for taking some measures for improving its quality. Water gets contaminated but at what point is the moot question. The WASA should find out this and take remedial measures.
In high Summer, bacteria are supposed to proliferate and unless water is freed from contamination, it becomes a potential source of diseases -diarrhoea in particular. Already hospitals in Dhaka and elsewhere are struggling to cope with the excessive number of diarrhoea patients. Every year, around this time, the disease breaks out almost in an epidemic form. The cost is high. So there is a need for ensuring that the water supplied by the WASA is really cent per cent potable. At the same time, people have to be aware of the danger they are exposed to by street food and drinks. Drinks in particular are in high demand during the sultry summer day but the way they are prepared and served is unacceptable. Those should be avoided by all means.
