Deputy commissioners demand drinkable water in rural areas, uninterrupted power supply

Deputy commissioners (DCs) have reported rising levels of pollution, arsenic, and iron contamination in rural areas and sought measures to ensure clean drinking water.

They raised the issue with the LGRD and co-operatives, and Chittagong Hill Tracts ministries on the second day of the district administrators’ conference on Wednesday.

LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain told reporters that the DCs said water pollution had gone up along with arsenic and iron contamination.

He held a falling water table that had dropped three to 10 metres for an increase of arsenic in water.

“Many other types of pollution may occur in future,” he added.

The minister said he had ordered the district administrators to restore water bodies along with the water supply plants.

They were asked to prepare lists of the old water bodies, he said.

“We’ll adopt a project on the basis of the lists,” he added.

Hossain also said no DC raised the demand of District Council elections. “The process of District Council polls is underway,” he said.

He told the DCs that rundown rural roads would be repaired.

They also discussed Union Parishad matters and the pay packet of Village Police.

“We’ll appoint accountants to the Union Councils,” the minister said.

In the session with the disaster management, food, and power ministries, the deputy commissioners demanded uninterrupted power supply.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said the government was working on it.

“I hope we’ll be able to supply uninterrupted power to 80 percent of the areas with power connection within three years,” he said.

Food Minister Qamrul Islam said the DCs sought more warehouses. “The government is setting up warehouses with a capacity of 105,000 tonnes,” he said.

Disaster Management Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya said the DCs demanded more allocation for transport of goods in the disaster-prone areas and warehouses.

Land Minister Shamsur Rahaman Sherif said he had instructed the district administrators to prevent corruption and reduce sufferings in land offices.

The DCs also recommended the widening of the environment tribunal’s purview in their session with the environment ministry.

“They demanded ETP (Effluent Treatment Plant) for sugar mills,” Environment Minister Anwar Hussain said.

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said they emphasised the settlement of local issues locally along the bordes with India.

Discussions on security along the border featured Rohingyas and human trafficking.