Seventy percent of the population live in rural areas, but each year 6% of that population migrates to the cities. It has the most densely populated slum in the world with 3000 population per square kilometer. As you drive through Dhaka, you can see people everywhere, buses full to capacity with extra people sitting on the roof and hundreds of people setting up their businesses on the roadsides.
The scale of urbanisation is phenomenal, as at Bedford sewage treatment works we have a growth scheme where we will be increasing the capacity of the works by 30,000 for 2015, however Dhaka only has one main sewer network and one sewage works and in the next 15 years the urban population in all of the cities will increase to 50% of the total population. It is impossible to imagine how you could upgrade the current assets in 15 years to accommodate up to an additional 20 million people!
In the UK the water industry is privatised with the geographical location determining who provides your water supply and sewage treatment. In Bangladesh there are five different types of water provision:
- Cities: Water and Sanitation Authorities (Similar to Anglian Water)
- District Town: Municipality Supply
- Small Town: Mainly Individual Supplies - Tubewells
- Villages: Individual and Community Supplies - Handpumps and Tubewells
The main benefit of the City water supply is the large subsidy provided to customers.
Cost of 1,000 litres: 6.5 Taka
Cost of Production: 25 Taka
Cost of Bottled Water (1.5 litres): 20 Taka
The poorest community members that are unable to access the safe City water supply are further disadvantaged by having to pay more for bottled water.
Climate change will also have a dramatic impact on Bangladesh, as the country will be affected from the snow melting from the Himalayas in the north and the sea level rises in the south. Already areas in the south are affected by saline intrusion, where salt water is entering the aquifers making the water unsuitable to drink. In the north, there is evidence of desertification and lowering of the groundwater tables. Later on in the week, we will be visiting projects where WaterAid and their local partners have helped to find solutions to some of these issues.
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