Our Correspondent, Barishal :
Water testing machine has outdated for four (4) months, lab three (3) years at Barishal Divisional Environment Department which trigger locals.
According to the Population Census- 2022 and housing census, the population of Barishal division has been increasing in a massive way.
However, city dwellers have filed complaint but no necessary measures has not been taken yet to ensure safe water for this large population.
Water samples have not been collected from homes in the past decade.
Earlier, water samples were collected from hotels, restaurants, tube wells, ponds and households every week and tested for quality.
Currently, water-borne diseases are increasing due as the residents of Barishal unable to get quality water.
Due to the lack of equipment to test the quality of water sources, the only lab in the division has been closed for more than three years after 2020.
Health experts told The New Nation that drinking contaminated water usually puts people at risk of contracting typhoid, cholera, dysentery, hepatitis, giardia and diarrhea.
A lab was nominally set up in the Barishal Department of Environment’s divisional office, but the equipment has been damaged.
However, officials of the Department of Environment have not agreed to comment or provide any information on this matter.
They only say that there is a lab, but it is not possible to test the quality of water due to the lack of necessary equipment.
Lincoln Bayen, Barishal divisional coordinator of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), told “The lab of the Barishal Department of Environment has been closed for a long time.
