RAJSHAHI, Apr 25: Severe water crisis is making life unbearable in the district amid excessive heat.
The drinking water crisis has been alarming in different upazilas of the district including Charghat Upazila mostly.
The surface water bodies are drying up because of scarcity of rain in the last two years.
The groundwater level has registered a fall, turning tube-wells non-functional.
Harsh drought is prevailing causing a hiccupping condition to public life.
According to sources at Upazila Public Health Engineering Department, there are about 17,500 deep and shallow tube-wells in Charghat Upazila.
In the last three years, 462 deep tube-wells were installed at the union level in the upazila.
These tube-wells have two layers; the first layer has the pumping capacity from 800 to 900 feet while the second one from 1,000 to 1,100 feet.
Most people of the upazila drenched by Padma-Boral rivers are dependent on tube-well water.
These two rivers hold some water in the rainy season; but in the dry season these just get drying up, causing groundwater fall in localities.
Due to higher river water-layer scaling down than the normal, tube-wells installed beneath 800-900 feet cannot pump out ground water.
Deep tube-wells have been installed on wilful basis for keeping water in fishing farms. That is why the groundwater has gone down abnormally.
A recent visit found most tube-wells dysfunctional in Charghat Sadar, Miapur, Thanapara, Yusufpur, Pirojpur, Shalua, and Nimpara areas.
Only one/two tube-wells are in order, but these are pumping out very little water.
A housewife of Thanapara Village Belly Begum said, despite their houses connected with municipality water supply line, they are dependent on tube-well water for drinking, cooking and bathing.
"This Ramadan we are suffering for want of drinking water," she added. She was echoed by another Afroza Begum of Upazila Sadar.
With groundwater falling, arsenic-born disease has infected Khorshed Alam, Razzak Ali and several others of Miapur Village.
Upazila Public Health Engineering Officer Golam Mostafa said, the water crisis is now worldwide due to excessive heat; now it has turned acute; this drought time the groundwater level has gone into a long deep.
Rivers, canals, and Beels are drying up causing the water layer downing unabated, he added.
He further said, due to unplanned deep tube-well installation and excessive groundwater lifting, a alarming situation has been created.
