Wasa
BNP protests water tariff hike, submits memo to Wasa
BNP on Thursday submitted a memorandum to the office of the managing director (MD) of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa), protesting the increase in water tariff.
BNP Dhaka south city unit president Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel and Dhaka north city unit senior vice-president Munshi Bazlul Basit Anju handed over the memorandum to the authorities concerned at Wasa Bhaban in the capital.
Addressing the Wasa MD, the party mentioned in the memorandum that the decision to raise water tariff by Dhaka Wasa during the Covid pandemic that caused public sufferings in many ways is inhumane, undesirable, illogical, anti-people and it goes against the fundamental rights. “It seems to add salt to injuries.”
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It also said the cost of living will increase along with the increase in public sufferings if the water tariff is raised during this difficult time of the Covid epidemic.
“On behalf of the residents of Dhaka, BNP’s Dhaka south and north units strongly condemn and protest the hike in water tariffs and demand the immediate cancellation of this anti-people decision,” the memorandum reads.
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The party also demanded the Wasa ensure uninterrupted supply of safe and pure drinking water to all city dwellers by stopping corruption, plundering, irregularities and waywardness.
In the memorandum, BNP said water tariff has been tripled in the last 13 years with 14th-time hikes, but it could not ease the suffering s of the city dwellers.
In its 279th board meeting in March last, Wasa decided to increase the prices of water by 5% for residential and commercial uses which will be effective from July 1.
As per the new decision, the prices of each unit (1,000 litres) of water will be Tk 15.18 for residential use and Tk 42 for commercial use. Dhaka Wasa also hiked water prices by about 25% last year.
Bottle-shape wastebin to symbolise fight against plastic pollution and waterlogging
In the monsoon, waterlogging is one of the greatest concerns for city dwellers. It has been found that the majority of the waste that clogs the drainage are plastic bottles and plastic bags.
Experts have attributed this to a lack of public awareness and good practice about the environment among city dwellers and said it would be impossible for the government or the city corporation to solve the waterlogging problem if people don’t take responsibility.
To reduce the volume of plastic added into the drainage system and raise awareness, Dhaka South City Corporation’s Ward-21 councilor Mohammad Asaduzzaman has set up a bottle-shaped plastic collection point at Dhaka University's TSC area, and likely to put another 7 bottle-shaped plastic collection points across the 21st ward of Dhaka South City Corporation.
Also read: Plastic waste increases from 178 tons per day in 2005 to 646 tons in 2020 in Dhaka
The placard attached to the bottle reads "Put the plastic waste inside the bottle and help put an end to water-logging."
Contacted, councilor Mohammad Asaduzzaman told UNB, “Although WASA was supposed to clean the drain in the previous years, this year the responsibility has come on us. When we were conducting the drainage cleaning program, we noticed that plastic waste was mainly blamed for hindering water flow and logging in the drainage system. We have collected approximately one and a half thousand bottles from almost every manhole.”
Also read: Fighting plastic pollution: EcoVia working to transform RMG waste
“So, I planned to set up such a bottle-shaped waste bin to motivate people to throw away these bottles in a dustbin, it is possible to prevent unwanted waterlogging. I believe that a unique awareness program can motivate people in a positive way,” he added. He claimed that he personally sponsored full money for the project.
“In a program sponsored by Coca-Cola, I saw that the whole stage was arranged in the shape of a Coke bottle. I thought my problem is also bottle centered so let’s do something with the bottle shape,” he explained.
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