Integrity management essential for safe water for all

Staff Reporter :
Water integrity management is essential, as the scarcity of safe water in the country is increasing due to fast-depleting groundwater, experts said.
They said around seven crore people in the country are still deprived of safe water and seven and a half crore are deprived of safe sanitation and the use of groundwater should be minimized.
They came up with the remarks at a roundtable titled “Water Integrity Management: Progress, Challenges and Way Forward” at the Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital on Tuesday.
Water integrity means using powers and resources ethically and honestly for the provision of sustainable and equitable water and sanitation services.
Addressing the roundtable, jointly organised by the NGO Forum, Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum (BFRF) and Bangladesh Water Integrity Network, S M A Rashid, Executive Director of NGO Forum said, to ensure safe water and sanitation for all by 2030 and to achieve SDGs, it is necessary to establish integrity practices align with National Integrity Strategy. He called for the learning and good practices of integrity management to be spread in the water sector.
Anwar Zahid, Director of the Bangladesh Water Development Board, said, “Over time, the demand for water in agricultural and industrial sectors is increasing but the quantity of usable water is not. The Bangladesh Water Act has fixed the priorities of water usage but the law is not observed properly.”
“Dhaka’s groundwater level has dropped by around 75 metres in the last 50 years, but still we have allowed the use of groundwater in hundreds of industries around the capital, which is not permitted in the Water Act. That is why water integrity is very important,” Anwar Zahid said.
Lawmaker Prof Dr Abdul Aziz said the water layer of Dhaka is going down fast and at some point in future, it will be difficult to lift water from the ground.
“We have to think about that. The water that people use should be free of pollution. To achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs), water integrity must be ensured,” he said.
Within the South Asian region, Chattogram Wasa is working to reduce the consumption of groundwater to near zero this year, said Engineer Ariful Islam, project director at Chattogram WASA.
Md Abdullah, Director of Khulna, Kazi Monir Mosharof, Project focal NGO Forum and Partha Hefaz Sheikh, Director of WaterAid, among others, spoke on occassion.