Corporate Responsibility: Safe drinking water and sanitation

Published in The Daily Star
Section: Environment
Date: March 20, 2010

Syed Tashfin Chowdhury

While complaining about the gas and power crisis, most seem to overlook the diminishing supply of water against the increasing population in both urban and rural areas of Bangladesh.

In the urban areas, even in the past few weeks, there has been headlines on stinking water being provided by the Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) while Rajshahi being under dire straits with the problem.

Dhaka receives most of its water supply from the rivers Buriganga and Shitalakkhya, which are already polluted with industrial waste from tanneries and factories on the shores of the rivers, sewerage waste from neighbouring residential areas and to some extent the waste from launches and vessels that ply these rivers. This is leading to an increase in the occurrences of water-borne diseases.

The rural areas are not lagging far behind. Although it was perceived even a few years back that water from tube-well was safe, the perception was shattered with the findings of arsenic in groundwater.

Under such circumstances, finding feasible alternatives to the existing supply water and sanitation situation has become extremely necessary. While the government authorities and non-government organizations (NGOs) have been struggling with the issue for quite a while, the valiant attempt to get a grip on the situation by United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), the Urban Partnerships for Poverty Reduction Programme (UPPR) and Coca-Cola Far East Limited is rather commendable.

In a bid to improve community access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation and raise awareness on water conservation and hygiene practices they jointly launched a project on March 9 at the Dhaka Reporters Unity.

The project is to be run initially in 30 schools of Dhaka and Comilla, which are located within the UPPR programme area. The programme is being executed by the Government of Bangladesh, technically supported by UNDP and UN-HABITAT.

The Safe drinking water and sanitation project, an equal joint partnership between Coca-Cola Far East Ltd, UN-HABITAT, and communities themselves together with a local implementing partner, would be executed over a period of two years.

Costing around US $ 300,000, the project will receive a major share of its funds from Coca-Cola Far East Ltd and UN-HABITAT. Local schools are expected to contribute towards the operation and maintenance of the project, which is expected to impact 6,000 families.

The two main components of the project include demonstration of rainwater harvesting and other techniques to store and conserve water in Dhaka and Comilla with Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) systems established in 20 schools and provision of safe drinking water and sanitation in 30 schools of these two divisions.

The remaining components include improved water management and sanitation in selected urban slums of Comilla and awareness programmes on water use, water conservation, sanitation and hygiene behaviour.

At the signing ceremony, Andre Dzikus, Chief, Water, Sanitation and Infrastructure Branch, UN-HABITAT said, “access to clean water and sanitation can affect human development and these basic needs are fundamental to improving the living conditions of the urban poor.”

“We aim to improve the overall standard of living in communities and we are delighted to enter into this partnership,” said Sandeep Gupta, Vice President, South West Asia for Coca-Cola on the day.

Earlier in 2008, Coca-Cola Far East Ltd in partnership with Plan Bangladesh commissioned the innovative 'Rain Water Harvesting and Drinking Water Project' in Bangladesh. The project included installation of Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) systems and water filters in five primary schools in Mirpur and Borguna Sadar areas to ensure provision of safe drinking water to the students of these schools.

With over 110,000 children dying due to water borne diseases every year in Bangladesh, the initiative also aimed to provide access to safe drinking water and raise awareness about it amongst the school children and their families. The project also promoted Rain Water Harvesting as sustainable alternative source of water supply in Dhaka.

The RWH systems now commissioned have an overall recharge capacity of 32, 50,000 liters of rain water per annum.

This entire 'Rain Water Harvesting and Drinking Water Project' was commissioned at a total cost of USD 20,000. The unique initiative now benefits over 1000 children and families by providing potable drinking water throughout the year. In addition, the excess water harvested during the rainy season can also be utilized for secondary purposes like washing and sanitation.

Innovative and useful projects like these can actually go a long way in improving life of the urban and rural communities. Corporate houses and multinational companies from different industries can also delve into the numerous environmental crises being faced by Bangladesh and come up with similar projects that can help solve these problems as a part of their corporate social responsibility.

The writer is a communication activist.