C T Online Desk: Residents of Alikadam in Bandarban are grappling with an acute shortage of fresh water at the onset of summer.
Many are forced to consume contaminated water from canals and springs, raising fears of water-borne diseases.
Daily, women from Alikadam Sadar Union queue for hours under the scorching sun to collect water from tube wells. As water sources dry up, these efforts often yield just one or two pitchers of water, sometimes none at all.
In the hilly villages of No. 3 Nayapara and No. 4 Kurukpata unions, the water crisis is severe. Wards 3, 4, and 5 in Alikadam Sadar Union and Wards 3, 4, 8, and 9 in Nayapara Union are particularly hard hit. Many residents are resorting to river water to meet their needs.
Mayeshing Marma, from Ward 3’s Mongshipu Para, said: “Our local tube well broke down last year. Now, we need to collect water from the river to quench our thirst.”
The water treatment plant project in Alikadam, initiated on June 11, 2011, saw the construction of two reservoirs at a cost of Tk2.15 crore before being abandoned. Despite a Tk9.46 crore allocation on September 12, 2020, for the plant’s reconstruction, scheduled for completion by June 2022, the water supply ceased on April 12 last year, leaving Tk11.5 crore spent across two phases without providing water to the people of Alikadam.
Sajeda Begum and Rohana Akhtar from Ward 5 of Sadar Union noted that while there are several tube wells in their area, only one yields water during the dry season. They blame the unfinished water treatment plant project on negligence by authorities and insufficient lobbying by public representatives.
Locals report that ring wells and tube wells provided by LGED and Public Health Engineering are installed at shallow depths during the monsoon, causing them to run dry during the dry season. The only functional tube well in Ward 5 is 30 years old.
Male Mro, a resident of Ward 7 in Kurukpata Union, said: “We have been using the local water body directly; there is nothing else we can do.”
Sadar Union Chairman Nasir Uddin acknowledged the crisis, adding: “We are trying to resolve the water shortage in Wards 4 and 5.”
He attributed the issue to negligence by the concerned authorities, which has led to the suffering of common people.
Attempts to reach Mohammad Halim, assistant engineer of Alikadam upazila of Public Health, for comment were unsuccessful.
