WASA asked to ensure safe drinking water for city dwellers

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain on Sunday asked the country’s four water and sewerage authorities (WASAs) to take effective steps to ensure safe drinking water for city dwellers.
“Don’t come up with any excuse in this regard. All the problems, including infrastructure ones, must be resolved before the next dry season,” he said a meeting on overall activities of Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Khulna WASAs. The meeting was held at the conference room of the ministry at the Secretariat.
Mosharraf said safe drinking water is a must for all and it is the government’s responsibility to ensure people’s right to safe drinking water. “So, the government will provide all-out support to all the WASAs to ensure safe drinking water to the city dwellers,” he added. The groundwater level is depleting day by day due to unplanned extraction of water, said the LGRD Minister adding, “So, the surface water use has to be increased.”
He directed the authorities concerned to form a monitoring cell to oversee the activities of WASAs to make these accountable. Local Government Division secretary Abdul Malek and directors of four WASAs were present at the meeting.