The Daily Star May 17, 2003 


      WB to fund water plant in arsenic-hit Chapainawabganj



      Star Report


      The World Bank (WB) will provide Tk 26.5 crore for setting up a water 
      treatment plant at Chaipainawabganj municipality which has the worst 
      arsenic contamination of groundwater in the country. 
      Officials of the WB and Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project 
      (BAMWSP) are now finalising an agreement in this regard.
      The plant, to be installed as a BAMWSP project, will treat water from the 
      nearby Mahananda river, a tributary of the Padma, and supply it to about 
      2.43 lakh consumers at the district town. The decision was taken on the 
      basis of feasibility studies in the last few years. 
      In phase one of the project, water supply would be raised to 10,000 cubic 
      metres per day from 4,000 cubic metres now. In two years, supply will be 
      raised to 100,000 cubic metres per day. Consumers would then get water 
      supply for 20 hours a day against eight hours at present.
      Phase two of the project envisages privatisation of operation and 
      maintenance of the plant and water supply system.
      Under the project, water supply network would be expanded to cover the 
      entire 25-square kilometre municipal area. About 40 per cent people of the 
      town now get water supply from the municipality. 
      Experts testing water samples from deep tube-wells (DTWs) at 
      Chaipainawabganj in had detected more than 0.2 mg/L of arsenic in water. 
      This was far beyond permissible level, which is 0.05 mg/L.
      The finding was kept a secret till The Daily Star ran a report on it in 
      April 2001.
      Water from seven out of 17 deep tube-wells of the municipality was found 
      contaminated much above the permissible level Two deep tube-wells were 
      sealed off recently as arsenic level was more than 1 mg/L. 
      Besides, a recent survey shows water from about 60 per cent of more than 
      2,000 shallow tube-wells installed at private initiative in the town is 
      also contaminated.
      The municipal areas with contaminated water include Namang-shukaraboti, 
      Nakhrajpara, Durga-pur, Kathalbagicha, Haluabandha, Nayansukla and 
      Chandlai.