Bringing clean water and sanitation to Khulna slums
Provision of tubewell and sanitary Latrine. Photo Courtesy: the writer
Access to clean water and adequate sanitation facilities has made two Khulna slums different from others. These are Alam Nagar slum situated on a railway land in Ward No. 13 of Khulna City Corporation and Khalispur Customs slum in Khalispur industrial area. This was learnt following an exposure visit to the slums organised recently by Freshwater Action Network South Asia (FANSA)-Bangladesh, an advocacy network working to ensure WatSan rights for people, especially the grassroots and poor people in the community. Alam Nagar slum is inhabited by 150 poor families, most of them migrated from coastal areas of Barisal, Pirojpur, Bagerhat and Khulna. Status of the slum is quite satisfactory as regards water-sanitation situation, personal hygiene and cleanliness vis-à-vis other slums. The dwellers are now quite aware about their water-sanitation facilities and hygiene. But the two aforementioned slums were most dirty areas about six years ago, a breeding ground for disease and exploitation. Chronic lack of clean water and proper sanitation led to social as well as health problems. Disease outbreaks were making the lives of the residents of the apparently sprawling slums even harder. Life was very miserable for the slum dwellers as they were deprived of the basic amenities. As the slum dwellers belonged to very low-income group and were illiterate, they were unaware about health and hygiene, waste management and clean water. They had no entitlement to land and were mostly living on daily income from various odd jobs. They were excluded from any service by both government and other service providers. Even local ward members did not extend any support to manage their problems. However, taking all their deprivation into consideration, Nabolok Parishad, an NGO, undertook an initiative along with donor support in 2005, to organise and make people aware about WatSan issues. The interventions improved lives of the slum people, who formed a Community Based Organization (CBO) with joint initiative of the NGO. The CBO was formed at ward level to claim various rights of slum dwellers from appropriate authority. The NGO worked as a catalyst. A bank account was opened in the name of the slum organization where they save for future to purchase their own land on installment or for any other sudden requirement. The CBO members of the Alam Nagar slum advocated to the respective ward commissioner for cleaning garbage and drain passing through their slums. At first the commissioner did not pay attention to their complaints but finally he had to yield by listening to their woes. Now the city corporation cleans drains of the aforesaid slums after 12-15 days' interval. The dwellers are now conscious and aware enough about their rights. By now they have understood well that unity is strength. Now they get clean water from tubewell and use sanitary latrines sharing among themselves. The Managing Director, KWASA informed that Khulna WASA started its activities in Khulna division in October 2008. Khulna WASA needs 240 million litre water to meet Khulna City Corporation's jurisdiction demand each day but it can supply only 35 million every day. But despite constraints, Khulna WASA strives to work for welfare of the slum people, the official informed. Sanitation coverage of urban areas is also a very challenging task. Because, everyday a large number of people come to the city for various requirements. There are many slum areas where people are simply deprived of civic amenities. However, there are many non-government organisations who extensively work for ensuring sanitation both in urban and rural areas. Although, our government is committed to meet up the sanitation target by 2013, but now time has come to rethink whether the city will be able to accommodate the large number of people which is yet to be served.
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