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🇧🇩 Bangladesh /Environment & Climate

Where Access to Freshwater Is a Daily Struggle

From Daily Star · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Saltwater intrusion has made many wells and ponds unusable in Patharghata, forcing residents to collect and buy treated water.
  • Residents carry water from distant ponds, while NGOs and government-backed programs install rainwater-harvesting tanks and reverse-osmosis plants.
  • The IPCC says rising sea levels are driving saline water farther inland along Bangladesh’s coast.

For Sharmin Begum, getting drinking water means carrying pitchers home every day from a pond about 1.5 kilometres away. She lives in Padma Bahirchar village in Barguna’s Patharghata upazila, where saltwater has spread so widely that even tube-well water has become saline.

Installing a tube well is difficult because of stones underground. Even when residents manage to install one, the water often cannot be used. Cyclone Sidr also flooded the area with seawater, leaving most ponds too salty for drinking. A few ponds still provide freshwater, but residents must collect and treat the water before using it.

We, a few neighbours, fetch water every evening from a place about 1.5km away.

· Sharmin BegumShe described the daily journey to collect freshwater.

“We, a few neighbours, fetch water every evening from a place about 1.5km away,” Sharmin told The Daily Star. She needs at least 30 drums of water each month. Filtered pond water costs Tk 1 per litre, while water from filtration machines installed by some NGOs costs Tk 2 per litre. “The biggest problem is not buying the water, but carrying it home,” she said.

Regardless of storms or rain, I have to bring water. Otherwise, how will I drink?

· Sharmin BegumShe explained why she continues collecting water despite bad weather.

Asma Khatun, who collects water with Sharmin, described the strain of leaving her three children with someone else while she makes the journey. “No one can understand how difficult this is,” she said.

The IPCC’s sixth assessment report says rising sea levels are increasing saline-water intrusion. Nearly 26 million people in coastal Bangladesh face very high salinity in shallow groundwater, the report says, threatening freshwater supplies, agriculture and coastal ecosystems.

The biggest problem is not buying the water, but carrying it home.

· Sharmin BegumShe said transporting water creates the greatest burden.

NGOs and government-supported programs are trying to ease the crisis. CODEC has installed 183 rainwater-harvesting tanks beside homes in the area. Each tank can store about 3,000 litres for year-round drinking water. The project receives Green Climate Fund financing through the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation, whose investment in reverse-osmosis plants and rainwater systems totals about Tk 19.68 crore across six coastal districts.

No one can understand how difficult this is.

· Asma KhatunShe described the hardship of collecting water while arranging care for her children.
About this summary

Originally published by Daily Star in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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