Blackouts slashed DWASA daily water production by 50cr litres: MD

The frequent daily power cuts in the recent days have decreased Dhaka WASA’s daily water production capacity by 40-50 crore litres, resulting in further sufferings for the city’s residents amid sweltering heat, said the top DWASA official.

The water crisis emerged following frequent power cuts, and worsened as the authorities concerned failed to provide uninterrupted electricity supply to the WASA pumps, Taqsem A Khan, managing director of Dhaka WASA, said on Thursday. Apologising to the city’s residents for the inconvenience during a press briefing at the Wasa headquarter in Dhaka, he said the situation would improve soon.

However, he could not provide any details as to exactly when the crisis would end. After the Payra Power Plant completely suspended operations earlier this week, multiple daily blackouts have once again hit the country, resulting in production fall and increased sufferings of people amid unbearable heat waves.

Taqsem said Dhaka Wasa has the capacity to produce 285 crore litres to 295 crore litres of water daily. That is much more than the capital’s highest water demand of 260 crore litres.

But, these days, the production has come down to nearly 245 crore litres due to the power cuts, meaning there’s a nearly 10 per cent shortage to the current demand, he added.

Due to dry weather and excessive heat, people are using more water. That is also increasing demands.

“People in some areas of Dhaka are not getting water at times as our production has fallen and we can’t run the pumps when there’s no power,” said Taqsem.

He said his office is constantly in talks with the Power Division so that the WASA pumps can have a dual connection for ensuring uninterrupted supply.

Extreme heat has increased water demands. On top of it, a lot of water is being wasted, according to Taqsem.

“Two issues are coming up. Number one, the fall of production. And secondly, people are using running water. Running water can double or triple the required amount of water to finish a task,” he added.

The Dhaka WASA MD said unless uninterrupted electricity can be ensured, the additional sufferings brought due to natural calamities and power cuts will not be resolved soon.