The urgency of clean and purified water access for all in Dhaka’s Heatwave

As I live in Bangladesh, currently we are going through a major heatwave and it is almost up to 40 degree celsius every other day. It has been going on like this for a couple of weeks and people around the country are suffering a lot because of it. In this scorching temperature and high amount of humidity in air every single drop of water feels like a lifeline. In this major heat wave what people really realised is how important it is to stay hydrated all the time. At this point it is not just about getting comfort by drinking water in fact, it is a matter of survival. And not just about being hydrated, it is also about drinking safe water because no matter what if you are not drinking safe and clean water you are bound to fall sick.

Mostly what we are drinking at home is purified by a filter machine. It seems like a good option for the people living in cities and can also be quite affordable to many people. The water is quite clean and safe to drink as well. But the other people who are living under the poverty line are the ones who are getting affected mostly due to this.

The streets of Dhaka are always busy and buzzing with different kinds of activities and people. Even after being the busiest, people here seek refuge under whatever shade they are finding to save themselves from heat while some other people are huddling around street vendors who are selling cold beverages or drinks. But for many clean and safe water is some sort of luxury that they can not find to get.

In the slums around Dhaka city, where poverty keeps hitting their lives in every minute of their day, they mostly rely on whatever source they can find.As in dirty ponds, contaminated wells or polluted water bodies that go through all over the city. With no other choices being affordable to them they are mostly relying on these sources ; which are definitely not healthy for them.

As we have a helping hand in our house, last week she said her son fell ill and he is suffering from diarrhoea after having some juice from their local street vendor. My mother instantly told her to be very careful about drinking water or even any kind of cold juices from outside. She also told her to take drinking water from our place if it is needed and gave her a packet of saline to give it to her son.

So this is the scenario of most of the people in the city at this point. Amidst all this diversity different NGOs and even Govt. Organisations are working on distributing clean water to those who are in need tirelessly. There are tanker trucks around the city and also people can take clean water from their area’s WASA Pump. However the problem does not end with this distribution only. For the long run they really need to come up with so many ideas such as, how to keep those water bodies clean, how to purify the ones which are already wasted and to make sure everyone knows how important it is to have clean water.

As for now what we can tell people are - make sure to boil the water and cool it down before drinking. It kills the germs when we boil the water. People also can use purifying tablets. And organisations should look more into these street vendors, their water sources and tell them to maintain the hygiene as they are selling it to the other people. In this scorching heat we can not just simply tell people not to drink from those, that would be unreasonable to be honest. So we need to make sure whatever they are consuming, they won’t fall sick at least.

Clean water shouldn’t be a privilege rather it should be accessible to everyone in the city. People should know how important it is to drink clean and purified water. So that they can fight this unbearable heatwave and we all can survive

Have a good day!!!

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