HC seeks expert’s opinion on Wasa's water report

The High Court on Tuesday ordered the expert committee to submit their opinion on the test report of the supply water of Dhaka Wasa.

The HC bench of Justice JBM Hasan and Justice Khairul Alam directed the order after Wasa’s lawyers submitted a report claiming that no bacteria were found in Patla Khan Lane and Mirpur Zone’s water.

The bench has fixed October 23, 2019, for the hearing on the expert’s opinion.

Earlier, the HC on November 6, 2018, formed a four-member committee with representatives from the Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Ministry, Dhaka University, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) to test the water.

On 24 July, 2019, the HC ordered the Wasa to ensure the supply of a hundred percent pure drinking water.

According to a report by the Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Ministry, water supplied by four out of Wasa’s 10 zones and two out of its four source points are contaminated with harmful bacteria.

Following an order of the HC, the ministry took samples of water from 34 areas in 10 zones and tested those at the laboratories of BUET, DU, and icddr,b.

Contaminations were found in eight out of those 34 samples.

On July 8, the HC ordered Dhaka Wasa to explain the reasons behind the contamination of its water.