ATk 25,000-crore integrated project is being planned to ensure safe drinking water for people across the country, said Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan.

He made the remarks while speaking to journalists after a meeting with a UNICEF delegation at the Secretariat on Thursday (October 8).

“We spoke with UNICEF today about a particularly important issue — how we can ensure safe drinking water for the 18 crore people of Bangladesh. You know, water is life. People cannot survive without water. But if water is contaminated or contains harmful germs, it can become a cause of death,” the minister said.

He said ensuring safe drinking water for the country’s 180 million people is a major challenge, which was discussed at the meeting.

Moyeen Khan said Bangladesh has abundant water in its rivers, but many of the rivers are drying up. Water is being diverted upstream, and the resulting decline in water flow is causing desertification-like conditions in the northern districts, while also having a significant impact on the southern region.

He said Bangladesh’s rivers carry water into the Bay of Bengal. When the volume of freshwater decreases, seawater salinity moves further inland. As a result, the southern region has faced a severe drinking-water crisis for decades due to upstream water withdrawal.

“If you are from the southern region or speak to its residents, you will understand how access to safe drinking water has become a serious problem for people there,” he said.

The minister said the government’s responsibility is to ensure safe drinking water for the people while considering all these issues.

“We also discussed how we can work together with the United Nations and devote ourselves to the welfare of the people, as well as how the project will be financed,” he said.

Asked about the estimated cost of the proposed safe drinking-water project, Moyeen Khan said, “The project we discussed collectively today is not just with UNICEF. There are various organisations involved, and if we add their contributions together, it would amount to around $2.1 billion. That means roughly Tk 25,000 crore.”

Sun News/ rabbi