Examples of our work in Bangladesh

Chittagong Hill Tracts

15 year old Omitee collects clean water from a new tapstand in Silchari village.

Credit: WaterAid / Abir Adbullah

In the Chittagong Hill Tracts of eastern Bangladesh groundwater is  scarce and the walk for water can be a time consuming and often risky task as women walk for miles over steep terrain.

Jaundice, diarrhoea and dysentery are rife among the hill people as the stream water they collect is often unsafe to drink and contaminated with animal faeces and bacteria.

Official reports show that from January to June 2002 approximately 100,000 people were treated for water-related diseases in the area but according to health workers this is only a fraction of the number of people affected by such illnesses.

Many more people live too remotely or are simply unable to reach health centres. In the district of Khagrachori alone official records show that 300 people die annually from water related diseases. However, in reality the figure is thought to be much higher.

Now, thanks to a partnership between WaterAid and local organisation Green Hill, this is changing. Working with communities, they are installing gravity flow schemes, where water is tapped at its source in the hills and then piped down to storage tanks below.

A network of pipes then supplies the water to communities in the villages where people can draw clean, safe water close to their homes.

Each household contributes 15 takas (about 16p) a month towards the cost of supplying the water and this is collected within each village by a Development Committee.

Pudi lives in Sabchri village in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Credit: WaterAid / Libby Clarke

Twenty six year old Pudi (pictured right) who lives in Sabchri village in the Chittagong hill tracts is one of the people helped by the scheme. Pudi used to have to hike up a steep, rocky mountain path to the source of a spring to collect water.

The journey took an hour and a half under the burning sun. The pitcher she used to collect water had a capacity of 10 to 12 litres, but her household needed 20 litres a day, so she often had to go more than once a day.

Life is now easier for Pudi as she can collect water from one of the four tapstands that Green Hill helped the community of 33 households install from a gravity fed piped system from the source.

Like Pudi, Modhulata Chakma from Uglachhora, used to have to walk miles across hills to collect water for her family. But now, thanks to the gravity flow scheme, she too can collect water from a tap on her doorstep.

This, coupled with the project's promotion of hygiene and sanitation, ensures that her family does not suffer from water related diseases. With more time and less diseases the adults are able to work and children are able to go to school and play with their friends. Modhulata is pleased that she can spend more time with her children now that she doesn't have to travel miles to collect water.

To date 59 villages have been reached by the project, but Green Hill has plans to reach many more people too: "We have so far covered 11,009 people under the project" says Executive Director of Green Hill Mong Thoai Ching. "We will cover 500 villages."

Community management in Dhaka

These women were selected by their community as the management committee of a waterpoint established by WaterAid.

Credit: WaterAid / Libby Clarke

These women (pictured right) were selected by their community as the management committee of a waterpoint established by WaterAid's partner DSK in a Dhaka slum.

In return for a wage of 500 taka (c. £6) a month they are responsible for charging the small fees each user has to pay to collect water, paying the city water bill and calling mechanics when there are maintenance problems.

The waterpoint is open from 6am to 10pm daily; they take it in turns to look after it for a month at a time with the help of their children.

The women are pleased with the new clean water supply and the reduction in disease; previously they used industrial wastewater from outside factories or bought water at high costs from illegal vendors.