Rozina Begum’s tin-roofed house in Uttar Chandpai village in Mongla upazila is surrounded by water on three sides. Yet excessive salinity has rendered the water unfit for use in cooking or drinking.

Every day middle-aged Rozina walks three kilometres from her home to fetch water from a river even for cooking the family’s meals.  And she has to buy saline-free drinking water.

“There have been days we passed without eating rice as there was no water to cook it,” said Rozina as she narrated her miseries to the UNB correspondent this week in her Chandpai village of the upazila.  

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She said her poor family also spends up to Tk 30 to 40 to collect the day’s drinking water.

Rozina’s neighbours Fuljaan Bibi, Khalil Mia, Haoa Begum, Mukul Molla and Dulal Sheikh have similar tales of water woes to share.

An invasion of saline sea water has made the sweet water in ponds, canals and other water bodies of the district’s coastal villages unfit for any use. Salinity higher than the permissible limit has been found in underground water too, making it difficult for the villagers to use well water.

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Up to 85 per cent of the district’s population have now little access to sweet drinkable water, according to studies. Diseases related to long-time excessive use of saline water have also become a big problem.

Many are turning to harvesting rainwater with the technology being provided by NGOs like Brac.

“According to Bangladesh standard 1000 mg chloride in per litre of water is considered an acceptable level. In some parts of Mongla we found around 9,500 mg chlorides per litres in water, which is almost nine  times more than the acceptable level,” said Jayanta Mallik, executive engineer of Bagerhat Public Health Engineering department.

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A merely lucky 15% of the population of 1,33,292 in Mongla upazila have access to drinkable water while about 85% depend on rainwater, saline water or some other means to meet their needs, said Jayanta.

Why Mongla faces such crisis

Bangladesh is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate changes. With 85% of people devoid of safe drinking water, the riverine and coastal Mongla upazila in Bagerhat district is bearing the brunt of the problem.

According to researchers, salinity in river and underground water of coastal regions in Bangladesh is increasing with the rise of sea level. In Mongla point of Pashur river salinity was measured at 2 PPT (parts per thousand) in 1962 which in 2008 increased ten times and measured 20 PPT.

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The increasing salinity in water has risked the agriculture, health, livelihoods in this region. In the last four decades the country's saline lands have increased to 27 per cent. 

This resulted in a possibility of 4 crore people becoming displaced from 70 upazilas of 19 coastal districts in the country. Moreover 10-30 per cent of 5 crore people in a total of 153 upazilas are living below the poverty line.

Fuljaan Bibi, neighbor of Rozina said, drinking  saline water for a long time has made her family members physically weak. “Just six months ago we suffered severe dysentery because of it,” she said.

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Meanwhile,  Khalil Mia,85, said he had to walk kilometres to buy drinkable water which has cost him around  Tk 3,500 monthly. Yet he has to depend on salt water for hygiene and other needs as they can’t afford using potable water.

According to research data, people of this region intake 16 grams of salt per day while drinking just 2 litres of water. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that an adult shouldn’t intake more than 6 grams of salt per day.

WHO data predicts, by 2050 excessive salinity will hit hard 30 to 50 lakh poor and 20 to 30 lakh extremely poor people.

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Meanwhile 3.50 crore people of coastal region in Bangladesh are already struggling with an extreme crisis of potable water as their fight with frequent storms, tidal bore and cyclones continues.

Rainwater saving method brings hope but is it enough?

Rozina and Fuljaan Bibi amid their tale of agonies said they have recently got rain water saving methods installed in their home. So for now they are saving rain water and hoping for an end to their struggles.

In their houses a 2,000 litre-capacity water tank and water filter were seen which they got under the Climate Change Program of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC).

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Mukul Molla said, “We used to save rain water before too but as the rainy season ended all our problems would come back.”

“In the dry months of April-May the water crisis of this region becomes unbearable with increased demand. Through BRAC’s reverse osmosis plant everyday locals get a supply of 4,000 litres of drinkable water in summer, “said Md Selim, principal of  Mongla Technical and Business Management College and President of the managing committee of the plant.

Project director of Climate Change Program  Md Liakat Ali said, since 2020 BRAC has implemented their project in Chila and Chandpai union of Mongla by installing rain water saving methods for 700 families.

Our aim is to bring 1,100 families under the project within this year and ensure safe drinking water for all in Mongla within the next 5 years, he said.

Besides the reverse osmosis plant established at the Mongla Technical and Business Management College premises supplies 60 litres of potable water per hour after refining it from Arsenic, Chlorides, TDS (Total dissolved solids) and bacteria , he added.

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Meanwhile, a Tk 10,000 crore worth government Development Project Proposal awaits approval, said executive engineer Jayanta Mallik..

Nod to which might capacitate taking up multifaceted projects to arrange potable water for the climate change victims of Mongla.