Editorial
The odour in drinking water
It is a clear danger to public health
Dhaka dwellers, both at home and at their work places, have been experiencing a health hazard through the piped water supplied by Wasa. For the past one week, inhabitants of such areas as Kamalapur, Gopibagh, Mugdapara, Shantinagar, Rampura, Bashabo and Jatrabari have been complaining about certain smells in the water. Even at Karwan Bazar, where a number of offices and other establishments are located, there have been reports of the malady. Obviously, questions have once again been raised about the quality of the water being supplied by Wasa.
Officials at Wasa have, of course, pointed out that one of the reasons behind the bad smell of the water could be the pollution in the river. Now that is an ex-planation which does not hold good, for the simple reason that the treatment of water through the Sayedabad water treatment plant has so far more or less been satisfactory. If that is the reality, one does not quite understand why all of a sudden drinking water should develop the kind of odour, people have been experiencing of late. Here too Wasa comes up with another explanation, which is that an excessive use of chemicals at the Sayedabad plant may have been a contributory factor to the problem. There is, an official has noted, no harm in drinking the water! We wonder what makes him feel so sure when there are allegations that the sewer lines may have cracked and mixed up in some areas with the underground water supply network. The point here is that if water does not taste like water, there is surely something awfully wrong with it. Bad taste or smell has a way of putting people off. Should Wasa not be keeping this truth in mind?
A thorough inquiry into the situation is now a neces-sity. It is public health which is now at risk. Sophistry to explain a bad condition away does not help.
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