HC orders formation of specialist committee to test Dhaka WASA water

The High Court has ordered institution of a five-strong specialist committee to test the standard of piped water supplied to the city households by Dhaka Water Supply and Sewarage Authority.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 6 Nov 2018, 02:41 PM
Updated : 6 Nov 2018, 02:41 PM

The committee will report to the court within next two months.

Representatives from the local government, Bureau of Research Testing and Consultation Department of BUET, Pharmacy and Biological Science Department of Dhaka University and ICDDRB will sit on the committee, according to lawyers.

The High Court bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Md Khairul Alam issued the orders with a ruling on Tuesday on hearing a writ petition.

The rule asked why the WASA's failure in supplying safe drinking water will not be declared illegal and the authority will not be ordered to take measures to supply safe water.

Local government authorities, health secretary, chief engineer of public health engineering and managing directors of Dhaka, Chattogram and Khulna WASA have been asked to response to the rule within four weeks.

A World Bank report on water supply, sanitation, hygiene and poverty in Bangladesh was attached to the writ petition in High Court.

"According to the article 15 and 18 (1) in the constitution, the state is responsible for ensuring safe and advanced living standard for its people," Tanveer Ahmed, who represented the petitioners in the court, told bdnews24.com.

"The constitution directs the state to take necessary measures against any system causing health hazards to its citizens. But the recent World Bank report shows that the water supplied by the state-run authority WASA is not safe."

“Especially, the water supplied through pipeline in the city areas has been found to contain E coli bacteria which is dangerous for human health.

"The court has ordered testing of Dhaka WASA water as of now, but it may order tests on samples from other parts of the country," the lawyer said.

He had served the defendants with a legal notice to ensure clean and safe water but never received a response, he said.