Water crisis hits Bhola’s Char Fesson as groundwater levels plunge

Residents of Char Fesson upazila in Bhola district are facing an acute shortage of drinking water as groundwater levels have dropped drastically due to climate change and excessive extraction through illegal irrigation pumps.

Many tube wells across the upazila have stopped functioning as the groundwater table has fallen unusually low, forcing residents to collect water from ponds, canals and other unsafe sources.

According to Department of Public Health Engineering in Char Fesson, around 10,000–12,000 deep tube wells have been installed by the government across the municipality and 21 unions of the upazila. 

In addition, more than 100,000 privately owned tube wells exist in the area.

Among the government-installed tube wells, 9,851 remain operational while about 2,500 have become non-functional. 

Besides, more than 40,000 privately installed tube wells are no longer producing water. In total, nearly 50,000 tube wells; both government and private, have stopped supplying water.

Local residents allege that excessive groundwater extraction using powerful submersible irrigation pumps for farming has rendered nearly 1,500 hand-operated tube wells ineffective.

Sources at Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) office in the upazila said that around 100 privately installed submersible irrigation pumps operate in areas including Jinnagar, Madraz, Hazariganj, Jahanpur and the municipality.

Each pump extracts an average of 806,400 litres of water during eight hours of operation daily for agricultural purposes. As a result, around 181,094 people in these areas are suffering from severe shortages of safe drinking water.

A visit to the affected areas revealed that hand-operated tube wells that once provided easy access to drinking water now fail to produce water even after several minutes of pumping. 

High-capacity submersible pumps are widely used for farming, fish enclosures and personal needs, extracting huge volumes of groundwater for hours.

The problem has worsened over the past few months, forcing many families to travel long distances to collect drinking water. Educational institutions, mosques and marketplaces are also experiencing shortages.

Farmers are heavily relying on submersible pumps for boro rice cultivation during the dry season. 

In some cases, influential individuals have installed powerful pumps in deep tube wells, accelerating the depletion of groundwater and causing nearby tube wells to run dry.

Zakir Hossain Firoz, a village doctor at Chairman Bazar area, said many worshippers were unable to perform ablution at the local mosque last Friday due to the lack of water supply.

Nurul Islam Howlader, a resident of Jahanpur union, said he had been using tube well water for about 30 years, but for the past three months water has stopped coming out of the tube well. Only a few tube wells in the area still function.

Shajahan, owner of an irrigation project in Jahanpur union, said the tube wells were installed to support agricultural activities and help farmers cultivate boro crops. However, groundwater levels usually drop during the dry season.

Faruk Kerani, who installed a submersible pump in Jinnagar union, said the pumps were introduced as canals had dried up and farmers needed alternative irrigation sources.

Dr Shovon Basak, an official of the upazila family planning department, warned that using contaminated water from ponds and canals could increase the risk of waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery and skin infections.

Upazila Public Health Engineer Kamal Uddin said groundwater levels begin to decline rapidly after January when irrigation activities intensify. 

He added that permanently shutting down illegally installed submersible pumps could help ease the current crisis.

BADC Sub-Assistant Engineer Arif Hossain said the issue of drinking water scarcity is being taken seriously and the upazila administration has been informed to identify and take action against illegal pumps.

Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Emadul Hossain said measures would be taken against the owners of illegal submersible pumps.

SF/SH