The Daily Star; March 10, 2004    
           
                 
                        
Groundwater drops to alarming level
                        
Quality and quantity of Wasa water threatened
                 
Mizanur Khan


The groundwater level in much of the city dropped up to 24 metres 
in nine years since 1996, bringing about a crisis in water output. 


Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) attributed the crisis 
to the lack of groundwater recharge in monsoon because of unplanned 
and ever-expanding habitation. 

"Static groundwater levels in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi and Dhaka 
Cantonment are sharply decreasing. Groundwater doesn't get recharged, 
as there is no open space for rainwater to accumulate. It threatens 
the quantity and quality of water," Wasa Managing Director ANH Akhter 
Hossain said. 

Last year, the water level dropped 13 metres in Mirpur, 13.5 metres in 
Dhaka Cantonment, 8.25 metres in Dhanmondi and 7 metres in Mohammadpur, 
according to Wasa statistics. 

A recent study by Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (Badc) 
also pointed to a drop in the groundwater level in the last eight years 
and says if the trend continues there will be a severe crisis and a risk 
of devastating landslide. 

The water level was recorded at 26.6 metres from the surface in 1996 -- 
the table that slid further to 50.6 metres in January 2004, says the 
study carried out with the vertical automatic water level recorder, 
the most recent method of verifying water tables. 

The groundwater level was recorded at 28.15 metres from the surface in 
1997, 30.45 in 1998, 31.86 in 1999, 34.18 in 2000, 37.78 in 2001, 41.87 
in 2002 and 46.24 in 2003. 

The Wasa managing director said the groundwater base in Dhaka could not 
sustain for long, as the water bodies are limited and real estate builders 
and city dwellers are building houses on open spaces. Lake and river 
encroachment in and around the city has worsened the situation. 

Wasa generates 85 percent of its water from underground through tubewells 
and the rest by treating surface water. Five years ago, 95 percent of 
Wasa water came from underground, he said, adding: "Five years later, 
the groundwater level will go down further and the daily demand will rise." 

Wasa generates only 150 crore litres of water against the daily demand for 
200 crore litres, and forecast that the demand will climb to 270 crore 
litres a day by 2010. 

Wasa workers cited the malfunctioning of tubewells as another reason the 
dip in water output. Half the tubewells in Mirpur have remained inoperative 
for the last one year. Of 407 tubewells in the city, only 382 are operative now. 

"It will not be safe to extract water from underground after two or three years," 
the Wasa managing director said. "We will take steps to face this depletion after 
we get results of a research which will start in a month." 

He warned that if any work is done without substantial research, groundwater may 
get contaminated leading to a disaster.