Dhaka gets drier as water crisis rears head amid heatwave

Sharmila's family of four has to make a crucial decision each day: who gets to shower and who doesn't. 

If all decide to shower, then there is little water for the rest of the day.

Amid a severe heat wave – with temperatures reaching a record over 40 degrees Celcius in the capital – the Mohammadpur resident doesn't always have the luxury of a respite from the weather through a cold shower. 

The water scarcity isn't restricted to the densely-populated Mohammadpur area. 

On Monday, several areas, including Shekertek, Badda, Banasree, Rayerbazar, Shanir Akhra, Dania, Jatrabari, Rampura, Mirpur, and other areas of the capital are also feeling more parched than usual amid a water shortage. 

Although the situation isn't new for many, the heat wave has actually made things worse.

According to an official of the Dhaka Wasa, a supply of around 250 crore litres of water could meet the demand, but now even 270 crore litres – the maximum capacity – is proving to be insufficient.

This has led to the unpopular decision of rationing water in some areas. 

Hasina Begum, a resident of Mirpur's Shewrapara area, told The Business Standard that the area has not been getting regular water for the past week. 

The water supply is almost normal in the morning, when most of the work has to be quickly done.

During the month of Ramadan, this proves tricky as water is also needed by households after iftar, she said.

Meanwhile, many residents of Rayerbazar have taken to going elsewhere – especially nearby mosques – to fetch water as there is little supply at their homes.

When that's not possible, they are forced to buy the much more expensive bottled water.

Residents said although the problem has existed for the past two years, it was exacerbated in the month of Ramadan. 

Even applying to the WASA executive engineer or deputy chief officer to solve the problem resulted in no response, they said.

AKM Shahid Uddin, director (Technical), Dhaka WASA told The Business Standard that due to the intense heat, the demand for water in the capital has increased. 

"As far as I know, there is a water shortage in the Shekertek area. We wanted to install deep tubewells there but did not get the space," he said. 

He said their pumps are not able to meet the demand as the number of people in the capital is increasing every year. 

"We are now supplying 265 to 270 crore litres of water per day but the demand is higher," he said.

He also said the underground water level has dropped by 2-3 feet in summer and various pumps are operating inefficiently due to long hours of use. 

Shahid also said the heat wave had prompted people to bathe two to three times a day instead of once, resulting in even more water consumption.

He advised everyone to use water carefully and not use more than necessary.

According to the data of Dhaka Wasa, about 920 pumps are used in Dhaka. 

Dhaka Wasa has the capacity to produce about 270 crore litres of water per day. 

Of this, 91 crore litres are produced from treatment plants, and the remaining 179 crore litres from deep tube wells. 

The demand hovers around 210- 240 crore litres per day, but has increased due to the intense heat. 

Officials of Dhaka WASA say the population and demand are increasing and the underground water level is going down. Because of this, many water pumps have been damaged. In many areas, there is no space to install pumps.

Besides, the production and supply of water has decreased due to load shedding. The work of installing new water lines is underway in different areas, which may be causing the water shortage.