Today we visited one of the slums in Dhaka to interview a family that has a limited water supply and poor sanitation facilities. As we drove into the slum in Molla'r Bostee there was a man in the middle of the road preparing his halal chicken.  The bird was killed with the blood dripping onto the middle of the dirt road where everyone was walking.


Case Study: Rashida Shamur Begum

Rashida in her home

Rashida rents two 10ft by 10ft rooms in the Molla'r Bostee slum, sharing a bed and small table with her husband Nuru Mia and her four children. The rubbish strewn walkway between the corrugated iron houses is less than a meter wide with open drains from the upstream factories running down towards a pond. Rashida's house has a concrete floor and is immaculately clean. Paul and I ask questions to Rashida through an interpreter to find out about the problems she faces living in a private slum, which has not yet had any intervention from any charities or government organisation.

The family moved to the slum area 10 years ago to improve their economic situation and due to the revolution. They migrated from Bhola, as there were no job opportunities for the whole family. Nuru Mia works as a rickshaw delivery driver, Rashida is a housewife and their two sons work as a tailor and a garment factory worker. One of their daughters is married and the youngest daughter is still at school. The daily wage of a rickshaw driver is 300 Taka, which is more than a garment factory worker who earns 1600 Taka a month. The family are in close proximity to the water and sanitation facilities, as the bathing unit and hanging latrines are only 10 meters from their house. They are provided with an intermittent piped water supply, which is shared with five other households, but is only used for washing, bathing and cooking. Fortunately the local MP, who lives near the slum,  has a continuous water supply and allows the slum dwellers to use his safe supply for free. The cost of the intermittent water supply is included in the rent.

Water stored in the house

Bathing water facility

The bathing facility is quite private and clean with a concrete base, however there can be queues as it is shared by both the male and female members of the five households. Females working in the garment factories use it first thing in the morning, people working in offices use it before 10am, housewives use it at noon and all others use it after 2pm. The real challenge is storing sufficient water for people to use the bathing facility, as the piped water supply is only available between 8am and 1pm and on some days it is not provided at all.

Hanging Latrines

The most shocking sight is the hanging latrine area. At the end of the path there is a pond, where bamboo structures have been built with concrete slabs. The latrines overhang the pond, where all of the sewage drops into the water 2 meters from the closest house. The smell is incredible. There is festering rubbish in the area around the latrine and sewage sludge is visible in the pond. Cockroaches were crawling over our feet and Paul stepped into a pile of maggots. As Rashida says 'the hanging latrine is harmful to health and the environment, big trouble in monsoon'. During the monsoon period, the water level of the pond rises, even flooding some of the houses and contaminating the area with the fetid water. One of Rashida's wishes is to have a rubbish removal service. There is currently no bins or collection service, causing problems with mosquitoes and flies.

Rashida outside the bathing area

Intermittent piped water supply

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