By Kapil Biswas | Project Contributor
The people of Sundarbans coastal region face the lack of pure drinking water all the year round. The water in this region is saline. As a result, the people of this region are forced to save rain water and boil the water in the pond and drink that water which is very inadequate compared to the need. This water crisis intensifies in the summer. There are cries for water all around. Due to the increase in the frequency of cyclones, the embankments break and saline water from the sea constantly enters the polders. This saline water gets mixed with the water bodies in the villages and water crisis becomes more intensive.
Initiative:Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) has been working since 2015 to alleviate the drinking water crisis in the coastal areas. In the meantime, the pond has been re-excavated and by using local technology pond sand and filter (PSF) system has been installed to collect rain water. Reverse Osmosis Water Purification System has been set up to enhance the quality of water. A community-based sustainable water business model has been introduced for its sustainable and long-term management. During this covid-19 pandemic situation people have to stay home and in this circumstances BEDS is supplying safe water to remote areas by vehicles.
Impact: Most of the people of the locality used pond water for drinking and cooking purpose. Women spend most of their time by collecting water far from their residence. By using this water, they often suffered from various kinds of water contaminated diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, Jaundice, dysentery etc. Pure drinking water was a cherished desire to them. After installing the Reverse Osmosis System, more than 9000 coastal villagers are getting safe drinking water at a cheap rate which is only 0.5 TK per liter. This little charge is taken for the maintenance cost of water production so that this activity will sustain in the long run process.
Feedbacks from the beneficiaries:A man who lives in the Sundarbans coastal region and earns his livelihood by fishing. He goes for fishing in the Sundarbans for 7-8 days. He takes water from the water ATM from Paschim Dhangmari. He expressed his feelings about water, “This water keeps me free from all kinds of water contaminated diseases at the fishing period. Before I suffered from water contaminated diseases and now I catch fish without any physical trouble.”
We would like to thank all our donors for their amazing and continuous support for the coastal deprived people. We are requesting all our donors to start monthly recurring donation by clicking the following link;
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