The greatest and most pressing problem in the lives of people living in our coastal areas is the severe shortage of safe drinking water.
Although rivers, canals, wetlands, and vast bodies of water surround these regions, the suffering of the people for potable and pure water is becoming increasingly intense.
Due to salinity, the water is unsuitable for drinking, and as a result, most coastal residents are deprived of safe water. According to newspaper reports, 73 percent of the people in coastal areas suffer from this hardship. In other words, around fifteen million people are being forced to drink saline groundwater.
In Mongla Upazila of Bagerhat alone, 65 percent of the people have no means of collecting safe drinking water. Because of climate change, the spread of salinity, disruption of the natural flow of rivers, unplanned shrimp farming, and the impacts of cyclones and tidal surges, both underground and surface water sources in coastal regions have become severely polluted and saline.
Consequently, the crisis of safe drinking water is no longer limited to an environmental disaster; rather, it has turned into a grave humanitarian crisis.
Rural women must travel several kilometers every day in search of water. In some places, hundreds of families survive depending on a single tube well or pond.
Many people are compelled to drink contaminated water, and therefore the health consequences must also be taken seriously. Even after more than half a century since independence, the people of the country’s coastal regions are still struggling for safe drinking water—this is undoubtedly a sign of our failure.
Sadly but truly, there has always been a lack of long-term planning and effective measures to address this crisis in the coastal areas.
Although many projects, promises, and development plans are often discussed, in reality most initiatives remain confined to paper. In some cases, rainwater harvesting projects, pond re-excavation, or water treatment plants have been established, but due to a lack of proper maintenance, these too have become ineffective.
Yet what do we see in the developed world? Many Middle Eastern countries, especially Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel, have established modern desalination plants to purify saline seawater. Singapore has set an example for the world in tackling water scarcity through rainwater harvesting, wastewater recycling, and advanced water management systems.
The Netherlands has developed sustainable water infrastructure as part of its climate adaptation strategy. The developed world has realized that water will be at the center of future politics, economics, and security.
While other countries are treating the shortage of safe drinking water as one of the greatest future security risks, we continue to neglect the issue year after year—can the outcome possibly be favorable? Safe drinking water today is not merely a basic necessity of human life; it is also a vital component of national security.
The environmental reality of Bangladesh is already alarming. Due to the impacts of climate change, salinity is increasing in coastal areas, rivers are dying, and groundwater levels are rapidly declining.
Yet regrettably, there is still no adequate long-term and science-based national plan to overcome such a major crisis. How much progress have we actually made in establishing modern water treatment plants in coastal areas, making rainwater harvesting mandatory, restoring the natural flow of rivers and canals, and taking effective measures to prevent the spread of salinity?
Even now, we have failed to strengthen sustainable pond conservation and re-excavation activities at the local level—what could be more unfortunate than this?
We must not forget that safe drinking water is not merely a matter of development or infrastructure; it is a fundamental human right. Keeping the people of the coast neglected and deprived makes the dream of sustainable development not only difficult but nearly impossible to achieve.
Therefore, safe drinking water must urgently be considered a matter of national security and human dignity. We must work tirelessly so that future generations do not have to pay the price for our unforgivable indifference.
