Dhaka, Sept 3 (BDNEWS) – The government has directed water supply authorities in six divisional headquarters to ensure uninterrupted supply of water to residents during the month of Ramadan, officials said Sunday.
Local Government and Rural Development Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan at a meeting in Dhaka asked the concerned officials to operate water pumps for two additional hours daily to help implement the decision.
Residents in major cities including the capital Dhaka suffer from an acute water crisis due to short supply of water.
The Water And Sewerage Authority in Dhaka can now supply only 160 crore to 170 crore litres of water against the daily demand of about 190 crore litres.
Other divisional headquarters also face water crises because of inadequate infrastructure and frequent power cuts, officials said.
The service of the employees of the water supply authorities will be declared essential during the month-long fasting that will begin at the end of this month, Managing Director of Dhaka Wasa Hedayetullah al Mamun told BDNEWS. The employees would also have to work on weekends, he said.
He said that if necessary, extra power generators would be installed to support water pumps.
Extra tanks of water would also be kept at important crossings in Dhaka for emergency supply, he said. More than 10 trolleys with a capacity of 1500 litres each and 22 water lorries would be kept ready in this regard.
BDNEWS/1958 hrs.
