Water Supply, Sanitation and Solid Waste Management Analysis on a Disaster Prone Area in Bangladesh - A Case Study on Chalna Pourashava, Dacope, Khulna
Bangladesh is known to be a naturally disaster prone country. Floods, droughts, cyclones and storm surges of varying intensity hit the country almost every year. Of these, cyclones associated with storm rushes are instant which are heavily destructive and usually cause massive damages to the affected areas. Water facilities are damaged; tube wells are either broken or partially wrecked and become unusable due to submergence. Ponds and other bodies are all contaminated by the onrush of saline water thereby leading to serious crisis of drinking water. As a result, outbreak of waterborne diseases like skin disease, cholera, diarrhoea in the affected areas claims numerous human lives.
This study has analyzed the “Water Supply, Sanitation and Solid Waste Management on Chalna Pourashava, Dacope, Khulna”. Field survey has been carried out in the field and face to face interview. This research carried out the mapping of the present water distribution network with treatment plant on Chalna pourashava, Dacope, Khulna. The water supply systems in Bangladesh are complex and diverse. Agriculture and aquaculture are the dominant activities in rural life and both are dependent on successful water management. Sanitation and solid waste management is also a vital component of water management. Assessment of available surface water for municipal water supply to Chalna Pourashava was carried from potential sources of nearby river i.e. Posur River and Chunkuri River.
In the light of the responses of the field visit and discussions with people of the affected areas, some measures are recommended for effective mitigation of the water supply system immediately after the cyclone. Where there is no suitable surface water, or where groundwater is deep or inaccessible due to hard ground conditions, or where it is too salty, acidic or otherwise unpleasant or unfit to drink, another source must be sought. In areas which have regular rainfall the most appropriate alternative is the collection of rainwater, called “Rainwater Harvesting”. It is evident, therefore, that there is considerable scope for the collection of rainwater when it falls, before huge losses occur due to evaporation and transpiration and before it becomes contaminated by natural means or man-made activities.