Experts at a seminar on Monday expressed grave concerns over the fast depletion of groundwater tables every year while they also recommended addressing chemical contamination of underground water.
Speakers made the observations at a seminar held on the occasion of this year’s World Water Day - ‘Groundwater- Making the Invisible Visible’. They said ‘Depletion and pollution of groundwater is the key concern for the invisible resource’ in groundwater tables.
The water experts, researchers and professionals in the water sector upheld their position in favor of saving groundwater as the most valuable resource for life while they took part in a discussion at a virtual seminar on Monday, on the eve of the World Water Day- 22 March hosted by SKS Foundation, the Secretariat of FANSA-Bangladesh.
FANSA-Bangladesh along with SWA, BAWIN, MHM Platform, FSM Network, IWA- BD Chapter, and WaterAid Bangladesh organized the virtual seminar.
Anwar Zahid, Director of Bangladesh Water Development Board highlighted the global and national scenario of groundwater and its use as a very valuable resource. Presenting the Keynote, Zahid upheld the challenges relating to protecting the groundwater.
He pinpointed that groundwater is the primary and valuable water source. But it’s being decreased due to unjustified withdrawal, and pollution by human activities i.e. deforestation, industrialization, agriculture expansion and livestock farming, untreated sewage pollution and wastewater, stormwater runoff, oil pollution, radioactive substances, pathogens, saltwater intrusion, etc.
Referring to the challenges, Zahid said, “An estimated 32 square km of groundwater is withdrawn annually for irrigation (90%), domestic and industrial (10%). The shallow irrigation wells have been increased in numbers throughout the country from 133,800 in 1985 to 11,82,525 in 2006 and about 16,00,000 in 2019.
Due to the increased withdrawal of groundwater, the groundwater table has been lowered from low with time and the permanent decline of water level is also observed at an alarming rate in urban areas and the Barind tract.”
“As the water table has gone down, the cost of withdrawing water from the ground has become costly and in many cases almost impossible. Again, 24 percent of the land area is exposed to extremely high to high risks of elevated arsenic, salinity, and groundwater depletion hazards,” he said.
He suggested utilization of available surface water and conjunctive use should be emphasized as per National Water Policy 1999 and other guidelines of the Government.
Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan, Professor, Department of Geology & Mining of the University of Rajshahi, said, “In the Barind tract, the groundwater crisis is already prevailing and the crisis is getting even worst. Every year the layer of water level is going down and many of the existing tubewells are being left inoperative. We need a crop mapping and good governing in managing the groundwater.”
Dilip Kumar Datta, Professor, Environmental Science Discipline of Khulna University, said, “Managing groundwater is badly needed. But overall we need also a nature-based solution that will take care of nature too in a suitable and sustainable manner. To lessen the dependency on groundwater we must focus on surface water.”
Tanvir Ahmed, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering of BUET, said, “To meet the greater demand of readily available water in our economy including agriculture, extraction and over-extraction of groundwater is targeted which is leading to a shortage of drinking water.
Moreover, contamination of groundwater is not visible, unlike surface water that’s why we continue contaminating groundwater. this is also causing the decline of the available drinking water too.
Hasin Jahan, Country Director, WaterAid Bangladesh, said, “‘Water is a human right. Among all needs, water for drinking stands top. We mainly get drinking water from the underground source. Groundwater is inter-connected to surface water and the quality of groundwater is also related to the water table. As the water table is being lowered and the use of the chemical is increasing, the water quality is being contaminated. We need to stop it now. And water use rule is needed to apply in the coordination of all relevant departments.”
Salahuddin Ahmmed, WASH Officer, UN Migration Agency, IOM, Bangladesh Mission, said, “Although Bangladesh is a riverine country, the groundwater is differentiated geographically across the country. At Cox Bazar in the southeast of Bangladesh, drinking water level differs the locality. To lessen the dependency on groundwater, we need to concentrate on surface water and preservation of surface water is also needed.”
Kazi Matin Uddin Ahmed, Professor, Department of Geology of Dhaka University, concluded the seminar as the chair. He said, “The groundwater crisis is the global problem. It is the most precious natural asset. In our country, we are heavily dependent on groundwater for all purposes without doing justice to this scarce resource. As a result, the water table is declining. On the other hand, pollution of groundwater is on rise resulting in creating safe water crisis for domestic needs.
“As we need water, the environment too needs water. So, we need to preserve it for us and future. Although we have a water policy, the policy is not enough to preserve the groundwater and use it wisely. It needs a separate law and a separate institution that will manage the groundwater assessing, monitoring, and distributing this scarce resource,” he added.
The virtual seminar was opened by a welcome speech by Imrul Kayes Muniruzzaman, Deputy Chief Executive of SKS Foundation. Among others around 100 participants from development partners, national & international organizations, academia and media joined the seminar.
