Access to safe water is a fundamental right of citizens. Making water easily accessible and affordable to all is the responsibility of the state. The state is not supposed to trade with the citizens over this. For this, the supply of water is one of the subsidized services provided by the government, like many other countries around the globe. The tap water supplied in the capital city by Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) is not safe to drink oruse without purification done at consumers’ end by incurring extra cost.
People have been complaining about the quality of Dhaka WASA water for a long time. A study by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) in April 2019 also raised consumer dissatisfaction. The study found that over one-third of the consumers were dissatisfied with Dhaka WASA services due to the supply of low-quality water. It is reported in the TIB study that fuel worth Tk 332 crore is being spent on average every month by the people to make WASA water drinkable.
Still, 91 percent of Dhaka’s population boils the water to make it drinkable. Thoughit is not expected. WASA water should be drinkable and contamination-free. It is also reported that, because of the deficiency of WASA water, 45 percent of the Dhaka population gets less than the required amount of water and the slum dwellers get 71 percent less water than they need in their daily activities.
Dhaka WASA has proposed the government to increase the price of water by at least 20 percent. They want to raise the price to reduce the amount paid in subsidies. Experts opine that the amount of subsidy given by the government can be reduced if the rampant graft is eradicated from the WASA. Dhaka WASA’s proposal of a 20 percent hike on water tariff, keeping poor-quality water, poor service, and insufficient supply unresolved for years, is not acceptable to the consumers.WASA must ensure safe water and best services before prices are hiked.
According to the Dhaka WASA Act. 1996, WASA can increase the water tariff by 5 percent each year in consultation with the government to adjust the inflation. Even if inflation is taken into consideration, the range of water price hikes should be limited between 5 percent and 6 percent. Dhaka WASA wants to make the proposed rate effective from the 1stJulythis year. It is mentionable here that even amid the covid-19 pandemic, Dhaka WASA increased the price of water in the last two years. In the past 13 years, water prices have increased 14 times.
At present, the price of each unit (1000 liters) of water for residential use is Tk. 15.18, and for commercial connection is Tk. 42.00, if the price is increased by 20 percent, the price will go up to Tk.18.25 for residential use and Tk. 50.40 for commercial connection. After the 20 percent price hike of water, the living of the consumers of the country in general and the residents of Dhaka city, in particular, will become more expensive. Their fundamental right to have access to water will be ill-treated.
As prices of essential commodities are rising and livelihoods of marginalized people are becoming more expensive and difficult because of the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, increasing water prices every year is cruelty to them. The price hike of water will put an additional burden on the residents of Dhaka city, especially on the poor and the lower-middle-income people who are already over-burdened during this pandemic amid the price hike of essentials.
A hike in water prices will create economic pressure and shoot up the living costs of the urbanites. The house rent will be climbed up. Because of the increase in water prices, many manufacturing industries will face an economic burden on their production cost, as a result, the prices of commodities will go up. In this situation, we request the government not to accord approval of price hike of water as proposed by the Dhaka WASA and keep water easily accessible and affordable to the citizens.
Md. Khalilur Rahman Sajal
Executive Director
Voluntary Consumers Training and Awareness Society (VOCTA)
E-mail: sajal.voctabangladesh@gmail.com