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Ferdous Ara Begum
Bangladesh is one of the most densely-populated countries in the world with approximately 1,052 people per square kilometre. As many as 160 million people live in a 148,460 sq. km area of the country (land:130,170 sq km and water: 18,290 sq km). The government aims to achieve the goal of turning Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021. The Seventh Five Year Plan (7th FYP) has identified massive industrialisation as a way forward for economic growth. Industrialisation needs to be environment-friendly to ensure sustainable socio-economic development. Bangladesh is endowed with significant reserves of natural gas, water and some mineral resources, but due to inadequate management efficiency, the scarce resources are getting depleted fast, creating the menace of large potential deficit in the coming years. In case of natural gas, the country is a bit late and still there is a lot of researches going on how we can manage this resource for industries and households.
Although Bangladesh is a water-abundant country with no prospects of scarcity looming in the horizon, a reality-check will show that shortage of safe drinking water, sanitation problems and other ancillary issues are gradually becoming serious. Water, which is critical for survival of all living organisms including humans, food production, and economic development, is becoming more and more scarce across the world, especially in urban areas. Economic development and environmental conditions are affected by regional and seasonal availability of water and quality of surface and groundwater. Human activities are also degrading the quality of the available scarce water. Rapid urbanisation and population growth, industrial production, climate change and other factors are expediting water pollution, posing a grave threat to the present and the future generations of the earth's population.
Bangladesh is known as a riverine land with abundance of inland water bodies. The country has around 700 rivers, including tributaries, with a total length of about 24,140 km. About 88 per cent of water is used in agriculture, 10 per cent for municipalities or domestic use and the remaining 2.0 per cent in the industrial sector. Irrigation forms the lion's share of water use in agriculture.
Bangladesh has to cope with both extremes of water security: inundation in the wet season and scarcity in the dry season. The country gets more than 90 per cent of its water from trans-boundary rivers. The severe water scarcity during the dry season is largely due to up-stream water withdrawal by upper riparian countries. The situation is further aggravated by unplanned urbanisation and industrialisation combined with overdependence on groundwater for irrigation and industrial operations. Strengthening water efficiency across different sectors is a critical need to sustain our agricultural productivity to feed an ever-growing population while continuing industrialisation as per targeted growth.
For businesses, water is a relatively under-regulated resource with a relatively lower cost compared to gas and electricity. Some factories discharge untreated industrial wastewater, severely polluting the rivers that are the lifelines of the country's environment. Excessive groundwater abstraction by the industrial units is depleting the aquifers in certain areas.
Textile and readymade garments (RMG) industry is the backbone of the Bangladesh economy, contributing 84 per cent of total export earnings and about 10 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). RMG export is targeted to grow to US$ 50 billion by 2021. The wet processing sector (washing, dyeing and finishing units) within the textile industry is one of the leading consumers of water among industrial sectors. Discharge of effluents from this industry, which contain dyes and chemicals without proper treatment, pollutes the environment and degrades the eco-system, posing health hazards and loss of livelihood for certain groups who rely on water, such as fishermen or farmers. If the textile industry is to grow and meet its aspired target of US$50 billion in exports, efficient processes and practices in resource use must be adopted across the board. Leather and leather goods, another booming export-oriented sector, also use a significant amount of water and cause water pollution.
To improve industrial sector compliance with wastewater regulations and to create a level playing field for compliant industries, it is important that proper policies and incentives are designed and implemented. Water scarcity or falling groundwater levels in certain parts of the country calls for appropriate mechanism to allocate water across sectors on the basis of priorities set in the National Water Act 2013. Existing policies, institutions, and incentives pertinent to regulation of water use and quality need to be mapped, compared to international best practices, and potential room for improvement needs to be identified.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive development across the world. The SDG Goal 6 mentions ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030. Target 6.3 mentions improving water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimising release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse across the world. A recent mapping exercise by the Planning Commission of Bangladesh identified that the Local Government Division as the lead organisation and the Ministry of Environment and Forests as co-leads would have to undertake relevant implementation activities, such as ensuring efficient water supply facilities in urban areas, reducing dependence on groundwater and improving surface water quality, construction of water treatment plants, etc.
The SDG Goal 6 Targets are related to water access, sanitation, water quality, water-use efficiency, and participatory water management. All the SDG Goal 6 Targets are relevant for sustainable development of water resources and economic development in Bangladesh.
Water resource management in Bangladesh is beset by several intractable challenges. The key problems are summarised below:
A 2015 study by WWF and H&M found 'contradictions in scope where it is not clear which agency is responsible for implementation of particular activities'. They dubbed coordination and interaction across the government institutions as 'one of the biggest challenges for implementing good water governance'.
The Executive Committee of National Water Resources Council (ECNWRC,) supported by Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO), is the key platform for inter-agency coordination on water sector. So far, ECNWRC did not hold any meeting though it is to hold at least three meetings every year. WARPO needs more human resources as well as technical expertise. The Water Rules that are under preparation would hopefully strengthen WARPO's institutional mandate, while discussions are going on regarding strengthening manpower of WARPO. In that respect, private sector support can be extended for providing supportive secretarial services to hold these meetings regularly. The Water Rules should be finalised soon. The draft should be published on the website. Extensive consultations should be held with the private sector for finalising the draft. WARPO could form knowledge partnership with institutions with rich research and skill base, such as Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET), to obtain technical support.
Businesses obtain water connection from Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) for establishment of an industrial unit. Dhaka WASA is in charge of the Dhaka city, while Chittagong WASA is in charge of Chittagong and Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) is in charge of areas beyond these. DWASA, CWASA, and DPHE are under Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperatives (MLGRDC). The basic jurisdiction of WASA and DPHE is to supply piped fresh water mainly for household use, especially for safe drinking. While the Dhaka jurisdiction of DWASA has many industrial units, higher concentration of industries is in areas around Dhaka such as Gazipur, Narayanganj, Chittagong, and so on. Aside from giving connections, DWASA also approves deep tube wells for industrial use in Dhaka.
In approving deep tube wells and monitoring industrial water use, WARPO will play a key role in the coming days once the draft Water Rules are finalised and approved. While the Water Act 2013 makes WARPO responsible for implementation of the Act, including regulating water use, its mandate is not adequately clarified. WARPO is also responsible for providing no-objection certificate (NOC) when water-related projects are placed for approval in Planning Commission, but the organisation lacks manpower and technical capacity, hamstringing its ability to execute the function effectively. The Water Rules need to make the mandate of WARPO clear and set down the basic provisions for a transparent management of water use and water extraction issues. [The second part of the article will be published on Saturday.]
The writer is the Chief Executive Officer of Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD)