Poor water quality a threat to growth in Bangladesh: WB

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Brajesh Upadhyay, Washington
Published : 07:30, Oct 12, 2018 | Updated : 07:30, Oct 12, 2018

Even though 98 percent of Bangladesh’s population has access to water from technologically improved sources, the water quality is poor. WORLD BANKA new World bank report has found that despite making remarkable progress in improving access to water, 41 percent of all improved water sources in Bangladesh are contaminated with E.Coli bacteria, which suggests a high prevalence of faecal contamination.
The report, released on Thursday, suggests that poor water quality is an issue for the rich and poor alike and is pervasive throughout regions.
"Piped water, an exclusive asset for rich urban populations, seldom faces issues of arsenic or salinity, yet it is still highly contaminated with faecal bacteria," says the report.
It says that even though 98 percent of Bangladesh’s population has access to water from technologically improved sources, the water quality is poor. The bulk of water contamination is coming from E. coli bacteria, which seems to be pervasive in all types of water sources in Bangladesh.
"E. coli bacteria was present in 80 percent of private piped-water taps sampled across the country, a similar rate to water retrieved from ponds," it says.
The findings come out on the same day when the World Bank launched its Human Capital Index report in Indonesia, placing Bangladesh well above both India and Pakistan in terms of effectiveness of education and health care initiatives.
However, the report on water supply, sanitation and hygiene, also known as the WASH report, says that poor water quality can undermine the country’s entire development process, holding back gains in human capital and efficient use of labour that are needed for sustainable prosperity.
Even though 98 percent of Bangladesh’s population has access to water from technologically improved sources, the water quality is poor.“Poor water quality and sanitation can hold back a country’s potential because unsafe water and poor sanitation are linked to nutritional disadvantages in early-childhood.” says Sereen Juma, Acting Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.
A major barrier to clean water access is the fact that Bangladesh’s natural water resources are heavily contaminated. Though households are usually not too far from a river or pond, surface water sources are far too polluted to be efficiently treated for consumption as they are vulnerable to agricultural, industrial, and municipal waste.
The report finds that Bangladesh has successfully eliminated the practice of open defecation. Still, about 50 million people use shared, rudimentary toilets, and only 28 percent of toilets are equipped with soap and water. In urban areas, slums have poor access to clean water and safe sanitation. Large-city slums have five times less access to improved sanitation and have the highest rates of childhood undernutrition in the country.
“There is scope for Bangladesh to improve access to sanitation beyond the household level to public places, schools, health facilities, and workplaces,” says George Joseph, report co-author and World Bank Senior Economist. “Only about half of manufacturing enterprises in Bangladesh have toilets. Only half of the primary schools have separate toilets for girls, and 1 in 4 adolescent girls miss school during menstruation. A safe water and sanitation environment will encourage more women to participate in the work force.”

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