Protests mark water shortage in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Apr 23 : The residents of Dhaka staged a street protest carrying empty water cans to demand an end to water and power shortages.

The situation has been turning from bad to worse every day and people stand in long queues for hours for water.

Officials blame the shortage of water for Dhaka's 11 million residents on a falling water table and the lack of power to run water pumps.

The Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority is supplying 1.50 billion litres of water a day against a demand of 2.25 billion litres due to frequent power cuts and a fall in groundwater level.

Some 86 percent of the capital's water supply comes from underground sources.

Depletion in the level of groundwater at the rate of three metres each year has worsened the situation.

Because of lack of enough natural gas to run power plants, the daily shortage of electricity in the city had soared to 1,500 megawatts. Nearly 40 percent of the country's population has access to power.

Authorities have asked the army to supervise the distribution of water in the city.

Bangladesh is governed by an army-backed interim administration that has imposed a banned to all public protests during emergency.

More than 20 people were killed in clashes with police, in Bangladesh in 2006, demanding adequate power for irrigation.

ANI