Ctg city public toilet water being illegally sold outside
Some unscrupulous people are making quick bucks by illegally selling water meant for use at public toilets in Chittagong city in the absence of monitoring by the authorities concerned.
This untreated water is mostly bought by roadside eateries, restaurants and residential buildings, threatening the users with different waterborne diseases while causing a shortage of water in the toilets.
According to Chittagong City Corporation (CCC), the city has 48 public toilets for 50 lakh residents. However, the toilets are mostly used by around 10 lakh homeless people inhabiting the city.
Every year CCC leases the toilets out at prices ranging from Tk 50,000 to Tk 6 lakh, depending on their location and use probability.
Of the 48, Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Cwasa) provided 15 leaseholders licences, renewable after one year, to dig deep tube wells. Another 10 have been provided with water supply connections with a monthly billing system as per use.
Either way, getting a water supply costs the leaseholders from Tk 30,000 to Tk 40,000.
Leaseholders of the remaining 23 toilets have illegally dug deep tube wells themselves, said Cwasa sources.
In turn, the leaseholders charge from Tk 2 to Tk 10 per person for using the toilet.
On a visit to public toilets at Jamal Khan, Cheragi Pahar, New Market, Lal Dighi, Badamtali and Dewanhat, people from all walks of life were seen queuing up for water.
The leaseholders and caretakers were charging Tk 30-50 for around 20-litre capacity containers. Filling a larger 40-litre drum mounted on a three-wheeler van cost Tk 100.
Suman Ahmed, caretaker of a public toilet in Lal Dighi, said they sold 70 to 80 containers of water at Tk 50 each every day.
Amir Ali, a local resident buying water from the toilet, said, “If we do not get water from here, we cannot manage water from anywhere else.â€
On what happens when the authorities pay a visit, Tipu, caretaker of a toilet, said he and the leaseholder usually “manage†the officials.
The leaseholder, requesting anonymity, said it cost him around Tk 1 lakh, mostly in bribes, to get a licence for a deep tube well.
“It is not profitable to serve only the users of the toilets,†he added.
Mamun, driver of a drum-carrying three-wheeler van before the toilet, said around 200 such vans collected water from the toilet every day for distribution in nearby hotels, restaurants and roadside tea stalls.
A restaurant owner in the New Market intersection, seeking anonymity, said the water from the van was cheaper.
CCC Estate Officer Ahmadul Haq said, “The CCC only monitors whether the lessees are paying their water and electric bills. If anyone sells the water illegally, we will take measures. However, we have not received any complaint yet.â€
There is nobody to monitor the public toilets, he added.
Cwasa Chief Revenue Officer Khaled Mahmud said, “Selling water meant for public toilets is illegal. Even if there is a shortage of water in residential areas, we keep supplies to the public toilets running.â€
“Sometimes we go on inspections to check the illegal use of water. However, it proves futile as they stop selling once we arrive and resume after we leave,†he said.
“The water is not fit for human consumption and will definitely be harmful for health if consumed untreated,†he added.
Cwasa has already issued letters to the lessees to stop the illegal sale of water while those who have illegally dug deep tube wells will soon be issued letters to get licences, he said.
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