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    7 views19 pages

    Bangladesh Compendium o Environmental Statistics

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    Bangladesh Compendium o Environmental Statistics

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    Bangladesh Compendium of Environment Statstios 0 49 4.0 Water 4.1 Water budget Bangladesh is a land of water. Annually, the country receives between 1000 to 5000 mm of rain in various regions (Figure 3.1). The intricate network of over 200 large and small rivers (Figure 4.1) discharge about 175 billion cubic meter of water (80% dependable flow) to the Bay of Bengal (MPO, 1991).'* Seasonal rainfall and inflow through two of the world’s largest rivers - the Ganges and the Brahmaputra are the main sources of water for Bangladesh. The river Meghna also contributes a significant amount of water in the wet season. Rivers of Bangladesh carry water from a collective catchment area of about 1.7 million square kilometres, only 8% percent of which lies within Bangladesh. Additionally, these rivers carry about 2.4 billion tons of sediment annually tothe Bay of Bengal. Available inland water is divided into two categories - surface water and groundwater. Water found in ponds, lakes and rivers, which reside on the land surface, is called surface water. Water residing in soil pores under the land surface is called groundwater. A saturated layer of soil, which stores sufficient amount of water that can be extracted using available technology, is called an aquifer. Seepage of water from surface water bodies recharges the aquifers and thus, surface and groundwater sources are inter-linked. Some aquifers are surrounded by impermeable layers and do not receive any recharge. When water is withdrawn from such isolated aquifers, water is essentially mined like other minerals such as oil and gas. Table 4.1 below gives the water balance for the critical month of March based on 80% dependable flows for the years 1983 and 1990 (MPO, 1991). It is evident from Table 4.1 that the Brahmaputra river contributes about 66 of the total flow by bringing in the dominant border inflow of 3900 m'/s. The Ganges contributes 13% of the total flow in March and the Meghna less than 2%. Others contribute another 4%. The remaining 14% of the flow comes from ungauged streams, a significant part of which is contributed from bank storage. A schematic diagram of relative distribution of surface water in the month of March is shown in Figure 4.2. Note that this distribution varies seasonally. In the wet season, the Meghna may carry three times the flow cartied by the Ganges. Table 4.2 shows monthly distribution of flow through the three major rivers of Bangladesh (MPO, 1991). Rivers of Bangladesh cary water from a. collective catchment rea of about 1.7 million square kilometers, only 8% percent of which are in Bangladesh. Surface and ground- water sources are interlinked, Brahmaputra river contributes about 67% of the total flow by bringing in the ‘dominant border inflow of 3900 m?/s. The Ganges contributes 13% of tho tofal flow in March ‘and the Meghna less than 2%. In the wet season, the Meghna may carry three time the flow cattied by the Ganges. Bangladesh Compendium of Ernronment Statshes 51 Figure4.1 Rivers of Bangladesh TF To) Source: M.Aminul Islam, Bangladesh in Maps, Dhaka University, 1981 Bangladesh Compenalum of Environment Statistics 0 53 Table 4.1 March water balance for the main rivers (80% dependable) Tnfow type (mVs) Benchmark years Percent of 1980 flow 1983 1990 Border inflows Brahmaputra 3000 3900 7 Ganges 870 70 13 Trbwlary iow Measured 450 370 6 Unmeasured (nat) 480 790) 14 Total inflow 5790 5830 100 Diversions -200 200 3 Outflow to sea 5590. 5630 7 ‘Source: MPO, 1991. Availability of groundwater is a function of technology used to extract it. Based on suction mode technology, which is widely used in Bangladesh, Figure 4.3 shows the portion of usable recharge for different parts of Bangladesh. Table 4.3 shows the amount of available recharge for different regions of Bangladesh along with the recommended use of groundwater in the year 2009/10. Figure 4.2: Schematic water balance for average year in percent. ross boundary inflow Precipitation (81.08%) (18.92%) Total Inflow (100%) Stream flow to the sea ET/deep percolation (98.82%) (11.18%) Stream flow to the sea Eastem region flow (65.18%) (3.64%) Source Khan 1993. 4.2 Water usage Water is an essential commodity for life. It is used in households, iy op wok businesses, industries, agriculture, navigation, fisheries, hydropower (Gey ot1, Nos profound generation and recreation. Water bodies act as habitats for numerous effects on the aquatic and amphibian species. Thus, availability of water, or lack of it, Oconomy and the ecology of has profound effects on the economy and the ecology of Bangladesh. Bangladesh. Bangladesh Compendium of Environment Statstes 55 Figure 4.2: Streamflow Distribution During March for 1990 conditions (80-percent dependable flows in m’/s) | _ -790net Hardinge Bridge 40 BAY OF BENGAL Bangladesh Compendium of Environment Statistics 57 Table 4.2 Monthly discharge of major rivers (historic average of 80% dependable flow) [DNorthw t MNortheast South 1% Figure 4.3: Regional groundwater balance Source: MPO, 1991 Flow (m’is) at: Apr May | Jun __| Jul Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan Feb__| Mar Granmepua at | 6690] tees | 25000 ] aca | a6is0 | sizm0 | tered | scm] S800] ane] a7eo | a1c0 Saradurbad Ganges at a Hardoge Broo Patra at Banna —| B50 | Tae | aToO | Seem | Seo | eee] Same | ee ese | ee ae ae Weghna-Pasina J 960] —a7eu [740] teawo] 15190] trai | oso J o0an | e90 | 0] a0 [0 convene ‘Source: MPO, 1991 Table 4.3 National Water Plan groundwater balance Mm?) Resource potential Regions Whole NW NE SE sc sw country Trae eae 3785 7 Te oy 1064 7088 Present egret ve Es 21 ex 166 tear 206 Osmeste nd rdustial 54 1276 a a 46 319 reser p to 2010 Suplatoagreutre 1028 : 1026 Fut uso potntal asi 2189 es 7 ere our Unvatrcedvoume 3 6 25 460 40 1382 Future use wp 10 2010 Dssiw 2160 ° 0 0 20 2420 ow 1875 as ra ss a on Tol m8 287 a 966 a esot ante beyond 2010 7 % 255 2 7 sus Source: MPO, 1991 Bangladesh Compendium of Environment Statstcs 2 59 Figure 4.4: Portion of usable recharge in different parts of Bangladesh wT 7 kr Source MPO, 1991 7 ont oe a 40 sghm N a 2! Sy percent 25-50 50-75, >15 NOT STUDIED oth Bit Bangladesh Compendium of Envronment Statisucs 2 61 4.2.1 Water supply Availability of safe drinking water is an indicator of development. Country wide, about 50% of the urban population and nearly 85% of the rural population have access to drinking water supply. Despite general availability of safe water, water born diseases are responsible for majority of the mortality and morbidity in Bangladesh, In rural areas, due to lack of awareness and accessibility problem, use of tubewell water for all domestic purposes is limited to about 16% of the population (LGRD, 1994)", Most of the drinking water (about 85%) come from groundwater sources. In some rural areas, increasing demand for irrigation water will affect availability of drinking water. Arsenic pollution of groundwater is also observed in some parts of the country. According to LGRD (1994), groundwater table will be within the suction limit of eight meters in 65- 70% of the country by 2000, which used to be 75% in early 90's. This may affect more than one hundred thousand hand pumps out of about 2.5 million hand pumps in the rural areas. Figure 4.7 shows arsenic affected regions of Bangladesh. Urban areas already depend on deep tubewells for supply of potable water. But due to rapid decline in recharge area over the local groundwater basins and excessive withdrawal rate, piezometric level is falling in many parts of the country, In Dhaka City, groundwater level has fallen by 20 meters in the last decade alone. Water is now essentially being mined from the aquifer underlying Dhaka City. The four major cities - Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Khulna need to develop surface water based alternatives in order to satisfy their long term needs. Dhaka may rely on Lakhya and Buriganga, Rajshahi on Ganges, and Chittagong on Karnafuli as future source of water supply. Khulna has amore difficult problem due to increased salinity in surface water sources Figure 4.5 shows saline water intrusion in the groundwater tables in Bangladesh. Figure 4.6 shows the trend in salinity in the river Bhairab in Khulna from 1975 to 1994. About 50% of the urban population and nearly 85% of the rural population have ‘access to drinking In Dhaka city, groundwater fallen by 20 the last decade. Figure 4.5 Salinity in Ground water table Bangladesh Compencium of Envronment Stavstcs & 63 BAY OF BENGAL Legend bie Coastal region (umhosfem) > 3 00° so" 2 264 24 Bangladesh Compendium of Envronment Stetstes 7 65 Figure 4.6: Salinity in the river Bhairab at Khulna from 1975 to 1994 | | | Ane | [| rl fl HE it i SSESS 2S 338858885388 ‘Source: Mosharraf Hossain, DOE. 4.2.2 Agricultural use Bangladesh, being an agricultural country, depends heavily on both surface water and groundwater for land preparation and irrigation. Agriculture contributes about 32% of the GDP and 70% of the export while sustaining about 74% of male labour force and 48% of female labour force. Agricultural water use constitutes about 85% of total consumptive water use. Due to continued emphasis on obtaining self-sufficiency in food grain by the Government of Bangladesh, agriculture sector will remain as the major water user in near future. Table 4.4 below gives an estimate of land under irrigation and its future potential expansion for different regions of the country (MPO, 1991) Table 44 Regional distribution of irigated /irigable land (million ha) Region | Netcultivated | Irrigable area | Irrigated area (69/90) | Potential for area expansion AW. 245 2.36 (087 1.49 NE 257 2.35 082 153) SE 4.31 0.85 0.38 0.47 SC. 7.03 0.72 0.14 0.58 SW 1.67, 1.26) 04 0.87 Total 9.03 7.56 2.62, 494 ‘Source: MPO, 1291 4.2.3 Fisheries Fisheries industry represent only 8% of agricultural GDP, but it fully employs 1.5 million rural people and provide partial employment to another 11 million. Fisheries contributed 10% of the total export earnings in 1994-95 period (WB, 1997)'°. Rivers, lakes, haors, baors, beels and Agricultural uses about 85% of total consumptive water. {86 2 Bangladesh Compendium of Environment Statistics Rivers, lakes, haors, baors, beels and household ponds produce about 600,000 matric tons of fish annually that make up nearly 80% of the total animal protein consume the country. household ponds produce about 600,000 metric tons of fish annually that make up nearly 80% of the total animal protein consumed in the country. In the wet season, inundated flood plains serve as breeding ground and nursery for fish. More specific information on different fish habitats may be found in the section on ecology and bio-diversity of this report. Both natural and man-made factors are interfering with fish habitats of Bangladesh. Such interference include siltation and filling up of wet lands, construction of embankments, sluice gates, roads and railway without adequate provision for natural flow of water. As a result, according to Ali and Tsai (1997)'7, major carps, such as, katla, mrigal and rui now account for only less than 1% of open water catch. They used to make up more than 20% before the interventions mentioned became pervasive. The Ganga-Jamuna deltaic plain encompasses an area of 2.5 million hectares of coastal tidal land. The length of the coastline is approximately 700 km. Much of this area is ideal for brackish aquaculture and tropical shrimp culture. (Rahman, 1994)'*. As a result, a large shrimp culture industry has developed in the coastal area, Traditional open sea fishing and drying on land is also a common practice along the coastline. 4.2.4 Navigation Bangladesh has an intricate network of khal, bel, hoar, baor and river which are used as navigational channels year round, In the monsoon, water level in many parts of the country rises 6m or more and water ways become very wide spread. According to Inland Water Transport Authority (IWTA), the total length of waterways in rainy season may exceed 8000 km. At the end of dry season, this length may shrink to about 4800 km. This estimate is based on plying of large boat (4 tons). If small dingis and boats are considered, the total length in the rainy season may extend to 24,000 km (Rashid, 1991)". Due to siltation of many rivers and improved road network, transport via waterways is decreasing all over the country. The major inland ports that carry substantial amount of freight and passengers are Dhak: Narayangonj, Chandpur, Barisal, Khulna, Potuakhali, Narsindi, Bhairab Bazaar and Azmirigonj. Some of the ports - Dhaka, Narayangonj, Chandpur, Baghabari and Azmirigonj may be developed as container ports in future. Bangladesh has two sea ports: Chittagong and Mongla, Chittagong has been used as an international port for more than a thousand years. Mongla port, which is located 48 km south of Khulna on Passur river, was established in December 1950 and since then, it has grown rapidly. 4.2.5 Hydropower Due to unfavourable topographical conditions, Bangladesh has only one hydropower plant at Kaptai of 230 MW capacity. It typically contributes Bangladesh Compendium of Environment Statistics 9 67 about 5-7% of the total electricity produced in the country. Total hydropower potential of Bangladesh is reported to be 1500 GWh per year. ‘This is made up of 1000 GWh at Kaptai, 300 GWh at Matamuhuri and 200 GWh at Sangu. ILis interesting to note that per capita power consumption in Bangladesh is approximately 90 KWh/year whereas the same in developed countries is more than 8000 KWh/year. This shows the very low level of development in Bangladesh. 4.3 Water Issues The main concern in relation to water availability in Bangladesh is its temporal and spatial distribution. The 80% dependable flow at Padma- Meghna confluence in February is 40 m'/s and same in July is 15,489 ms. This shows how uneven the yearly distribution of water is. As a result, different parts of the country suffer from frequent floods and droughts. 4.3.1 Flood Floods occurring in Bangladesh can be categorised into the following four types: 1. Flash flood in the eastern and northern rivers (April/May and Sep/Nov). 2. Rain flood caused by heavy rain and drainage congestion. 3. Monsoon flood in major rivers caused by rain inside and outside the country. This happens between August and October. 4, Tidal surge in coastal areas during passing of a cyclone. This may become exacerbated by synchronous occurrence of high tide. The key cause behind most of the floods is the skewed distribution of rain, 80% of which happens between the months of March and September. Most of this rain falls in the catchment areas of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra and only about 8% of, the total catchment area falls within Bangladesh. Following factors may also contribute to flooding: 1. Excessive melting of snow in the Himalayas 2. Human interventions in all the major rivers in the form of building embankments, dams and barrages have shrunk the natural flood plain, They have also locally changed sedimentation pattern, caused rise of riverbed and higher flood water level. 3. The sedimentation has been worsened by deforestation in Nepal and India. It causes more soil erosion and less surface retention of rain by the leaves of the trees and loose ground cover materials. However, the total hydropower potential is reported to be 1500 GWh, Types of flood: flash flood, rain flood, monsoon flood, and tidal surges. Bangladesh has only fone hydropower plont cot Kaptal of 230 MW capacity {88 7 Bangladesh Compenalum of Environment Statistics Types of drought: Meterological drought, hydrological ‘drought, agricultural drought. 4, Synchronisation of flood peak with high tide in the presence of full moon can make the flooding more damaging by raising the peak and prolonging the duration of the flood. Tidal heights vary between 60 cm and 3 m along the coastline, 5. Change in the natural drainage pattern due to development activities. Both the intensity and the duration of flooding might have been increased due to unplanned construction of roads and railway tracks. ‘They have compartmentalised the countryside and disrupted the natural flow of water out of the flooded land. In the rural and most urban areas, cropping and settlement patterns have largely been influenced by local flooding characteristics. On the basis of depth of flooding and potential land use, rural land has been divided into five categories as given in Table 4.5 (Islam and Sadeque, 1992)". According to MPO (1991) in an average year, net cultivated area subjected to shallow flood (30-90 cm) is 35%, moderate flood (90-180 em) 16%, deep flood (more than 180 cm) 12%, and the remaining 31% area is not flooded. In the recent past, Bangladesh suffered from major floods in 1954, 1955, 1974, 1987 and 1988. The last one was a catastrophic flood and probably had a return period of 100 years or more. This last flood had forced Bangladesh and some concerned foreign governments to jointly undertake massive studies on flood and its potential remedies. Outcome of these studies is well known as the Flood Action Plan (FAP) reports. Table 4.5 Land type based on flood depth and crop suitability Land type Tnundation Crop suitability High and medium land | Above floodlevel | Short stem HYV ric, jue, sugarcane, vegetable, pulse, ol seed Nonflooded land (FO) | Upto 03m HYV Boro ‘Medium high land (Fi) | 0.30 0.9m B. Aus, HYV Boro, jute, LT. Aman ‘Medium low land (F2) 0.90 1.8m) ‘Aus, Aman, HYV Boro Low land (F3) More than 1.8m | Deep water B. Aman, HYV Boro Deeply flooded and (Fa) More than 3.0m | Crop should be harvested before flood ‘Source: Islam and Sadeque, 1992. 4.3.2 Drought Drought can be defined from various points of view, all of which are associated with shortage of water. British meteorologists defined droughts as a phenomenon when average rainfall less than 1/100 inch over a 14-day period. On the other hand, US meteorologists consider an average rainfall of less than 1/4 inch over a 30-day period as drought (Nishat ef. al., 1998)" Meteorological drought occurs when there is less than average precipitation in a certain area. Hydrological drought occurs when there is & marked decrease in stream flow or drop in groundwater level. This may be Bangladesh Compendium of Envronment Statistics 7 69 accompanied by depletion of storage in ponds and lakes of various forms, Agricultural drought occurs when soil moisture falls below the level required to ensure normal growth and yield of a crop. Both hydrological and agricultural droughts have socio-economic implications. Effects of drought include loss of crop, shortage of food and drinking water, famine, spread of epidemic disease, loss of fisheries, disruption of navigation, desertification and mass movement of people from drought affected areas in search of food, shelter and occupation. Drought induced trans-boundary migration has caused serious refugee problem and political tension in some of the African countries in the Sahelian regions. Unlike other natural disasters, drought is a slow onset event and people wait till the last moment before abandoning their crop or households. Globally, drought has caused the maximum amount of economic and social damage and it is called the silent killer in many parts of Africa. Scientists have tried to relate global outbreak of drought to unusual solar Broughts of activity which has an eleven-year cycle. Droughts of Bangladesh seem to ied eaane have a periodicity of 5-10 years (Choudhury, 1989)". 5-10 years In Bangladesh, western districts are more prone to drought due to low annual rainfall. Decreased flow in the Ganges has exacerbated this problem. Long spells of rainless days ranging from two weeks or more during Kharif or Rabi season can cause drought. Drought prone regions of the country are listed in Table 4.6 (Karim et al. 1990)” Table 4.6 Regions based on drought severity Impact ype ‘rial description | Very severe ‘About 0.58 milion ha in Rajshahi and Nawabganj districts Severe More than 1.7 million ha in Dinajpur, Bogra, Kushtia, Jessore, Tangall and Dhaka distits Moderate ‘About 2.18 milion in Dinajpur, Rangpur, Boga, Kushlia, Jessore and Barisal districts. ‘Soutve: Karim et, a. 1990. Like flood, drought has hit Bangladesh quite regularly in the past. The major ones include droughts of 1951, 1957, 1961, 1966, 1972, 1979 and 1989, The last one has been the most damaging so far. It followed the catastrophic flood of 1988 and people had very little recovery time. 4.3.3 Bank erosion Rivers in alluvial plains change their courses. This is a natural process. However, due to human settlements and agricultural activities in the flood controling bank plain, bank erosion causes a great deal of social and economic hardship. It efetion caused by f : + | faige rivers has been a is very difficult to control this process, particularly while dealing with — giffeult task. large rivers such as the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, The —_ Trdetional measures towns of Sirajgonj and Chandpur are under continuous threat from the "Ke constuction of groyens has net been Brahmaputra and the Meghna respectively. Traditional measures of bank very effective. 70 0 Bangladesh Compendium of EnvicnmentStaistics ‘Area of Sondwip island has shrunk from {650 sq. km to 250 sq, km due to erosion. Tozimuddin island in Bhola eroded at the rate of 150m/day. Southwestern region ‘of Bangladesh has suffered froma number of waterlogging Incidents. protection and flow diversion by construction of groyens have not been very effective in controlling erosion in these areas. Frequent storm surge and wave action are responsible for erosion of land along the coastline of Bangladesh. Bank erosion is a problem in many coastal islands. In the last two hundred years, the area of Sandweep island has shrunk from 650 sq. km to 250 sq. km due to erosion. The island of Tozimuddin in Bhola is being eroded at a rate of 150 m/year and the northern tip of Hatia is being eroded at 400 m/year (Siddiqi 1989). * 4.3.4 Waterlogging Water logging is a condition where drainage of an area is blocked due to natural or man-made causes. In a waterlogged area, stagnant water may be found on the ground in the dry season. A high groundwater table may also persist that eventually contributes to accumulation of salt in the root zone and soil toxicity. Natural waterlogging is very rare and may be caused by major land movement such as landslide or earthquake. In the long run, some water bodies may become disconnected with natural drainage channels due to sedimentation and cause waterlogging. More common causes of water logging include rise of groundwater table in poorly drained areas due to intensive irrigation, blockage of flow due to construction of road and railway track, filling up of drainage channel and, improper construction and operation of hydraulic structure. Often times, water projects were designed based on old topographic and other land use data that did not match with the existing ground conditions. As a result, the projects failed to deliver the expected benefits and occasionally caused unintended damage. The southwestern region of Bangladesh has suffered from a number of waterlogging incidents. During the devastating floods of 1987 and 1988, water entered into the protected areas of seven thanas of Jessore and Khulna. This floodwater failed to drain out due to blockage from embankments, faulty sluice gates and lack of gravity drainage mechanism, within the project area. Silting up of the Bhairab and Mathavanga rivers has lead to waterlogging of thousands of acres of land in Chuadanga and Satkhira districts. Due to the same floods of 1987-88, the Salta-Bagdha irrigation project got flooded as water entered through breached embankments which could not come out of the project area and inflicted major economic damage. The incident of Chalan Beel of greater Pabna is also a well-publicised case of waterlogging. Due to a faulty regulator at Char Andharmanik of the Hurasagar Project, approximately 3000 acres of cultivable land in Shahzadpur thana were waterlogged. As reported by the Daily Ittefaq (December 7, 1990), almost half of the Tarash-Baghabari project area in Chalan Beel remained under water during the dry season due to ill- Bangladesh Compendium of Envronment Statstcs 7 71 designed and poorly constructed control structures. Similar incident happened in Chatmohar thana of greater Pabna. Another major waterlogging occurred in Beel Dakatia located near the City of Khulna, This area was under the Coastal Embankment Project undertaken in the 1960s with US support. The natural outflow of water from inside the polder was gradually blocked due to raising of the riverbed outside the polder. The problem continued for several years causing serious damages to agriculture, forestry, fisheries, livestock and social infrastructure. As a result, the standard of living of the people living within the Beel area deteriorated. This forced many people to leave the area, In the 1990s people of Beel Dakatia in an organised move cut parts of embankment to release blocked water. The government also undertook studies to review and revise the project. ‘This shows the importance of public participation in project planning and management. In the northeastern region of greater Sylhet, where haors are supposed to dry up in the winter, symptom of water logging has been reported for the Nalua Haor, In some unfortunate cases, waterlogging may also occur due to premeditated manipulation of flow by vested interests. Since, waterlogging in Bangladesh is primarily caused by compartmentalisation of a certain area, it was feared that the original proposals of Flood Action Plan (FAP) which largely depended on structural approach to flood fighting, would lead to massive waterlogging problem all over the country. Waterlogging not only takes away land from agriculture but also creates a body of water that gets more and more polluted from discharge of sewage, industrial waste and runoff from neighbouring crop fields. Thus in addition to causing loss of crop, waterlogging creates major health hazards for the affected people in the long run. 4.3.5 Wetland conversion Conversion of wetlands into residential and agricultural land is a pervasive problem. Wetland encroachment due pressure from the growing population is reducing the overall surface water retention capacity and destroying natural drainage outlets in many areas of the country. Additionally, wetlands are habitats to numerous amphibian and aquatic species including fish. Thus, loss of wetland is seriously affecting biodiversity. 4.3.6 Water quality ‘The water quality issue is gradually becoming very important in Bangladesh. Discharge of untreated and semi-treated wastewater from municipal and industrial sources is causing serious water pollution. Table 4.7 shows the sewage effluent standards as prescribed by the Department of Environment (DOE). The incident of Chalan beel of greater Pabna district is @ well publicized case of waterlogging. Conversion of wetlands into residential and ‘agricultural land is a pervasive problem, Industrial discharges ‘and agricultural run- offs are polluting surface water bodies. 72. Bangladesh Compendium of Environment Statistics Between 1968 and 1992, the salinity front (of 500 micro-mhos/em has moved from 144 km inland (from the mouth of Passur) to 217 km inland. Many of the western ‘and south-western districts of Bangladesh have high level of ‘arsenic content in ‘water drawn from dug wells and tubewells, Table 4.7 Standard values for sewage effluent Parameters ‘Standard unit Maximum value Biological oxygen mal 20 ‘demand (B0D) Nitrate mg 250 Phosphate mg % Suspended solids mal 30 Temperature degree Celsius 30 Source: DOE Agricultural fields are acting as distributed sources of water pollution. Runoff and seepage from agricultural fields carry residual fertiliser and pesticides which are poisoning both surface water and groundwater. Due to decrease of flow in the dry season through the Ganges and its main tributaries, Gorai and Madhumati, salinity in water is increasing in the southwestern part of Bangladesh. Between 1968 and 1992, the salinity front of 500 micro-mhos/em has moved from 144 km inland (from the mouth of Passur) to 217 km inland, One measurement in April 1992 at Khulna (144 km from the Bay) recorded a salinity of 29,500 micro- mhos/em whereas the irrigation limit for salinity is only 2000 micro- mhos/sm. In fact, approximately 40% of the southwestern region of Bangladesh has now salinity level higher than 2000 micro-mhos/cm Salinity is a general problem in coastal areas and the saline belts extend about 60 km inland. According to LGRD (1994), there are 84 salinity prone thanas in the coastal belt with an affected population of about 8 million. Rainwater storing ponds are the main source of fresh water in this area. Due to proximity to the sea, pumping groundwater as a substitute for surface water is not a feasible option as that causes salt-water intrusion into the aquifer. Salinity problem may be observed in groundwater too. The coastal belt and some areas of Habigonj, Brahmanbaria and Comilla districts are known to have high salinity in groundwater to a depth of about 250 m. In relation to drinking water, high iron concentration is a known problem in many parts of Bangladesh. Drinking water standard for iron is 5 ppm Excess iron causes bad taste, decolouration of food, teeth and clothes, and stickiness in the hair. Presence of arsenic in groundwater has become a problem of national scale in recent years. Many of the western and southwestern districts of Bangladesh have high level of arsenic content in water drawn from dug wells and tubewells. Although the cause of such contamination has not been conclusively established, it is generally believed that the source is geologic in nature. Lowering of groundwater level has exposed the layers rich in arsenic, caused oxidation and later on, released arsenic ions in groundwater. Since millions of people in those districts depend on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water, locally suited Bangladesh Compendium of Environment Staistes 0 73 arsenic filtering mechanism has to be developed and supplied to avoid major health hazards. Table 4.8 below shows the inland surface water quality standards for biological contamination as recommended by DOE. Table 4.9 shows the same for physical and chemical contaminants. Table 4.8 Inland surface water standard for biological contamination Use type pH | BOD(ppm) | DO(ppm) | Total Coliform ‘Ger 100 my Drinking water after disinfecting | 65-85 | 2orless | Gormore <50 Recreational use (swimming) 6585 | Sorless | Sor more <200 Drinking after conventional 6585 | Sorless | 6ormore < 5000 treatment Fisheries 6585 | Gorless | Sormore < 5000 Industial use and refrigeration | 65-85 | tOorless | Sor more - Inigation 6585 | 10orless | Sormore < 1000 Noles: For fisheries, maximum allowable amount cl ammonia is 1.2 ppm. For iigation, electrical conductivity {€C) of water has tobe less than 2250 micro-mhos/om, Hand tubewell isthe only source of dankang water in rural communities of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Compenchum of Environment Statistics 0 75 Figure4.7 Traces of arsenic in Ground water table of Bangladesh x we wr oF FF Q 40 80km N xg 264 bras ‘ 21 Legend <0.01 ppm 0.01 — 0.049 ppm (RS > 0.05 ppm Not surveyed . a 0% pl ot Bangladesh Compendium of Eomonment Staustics 77 Table 4.9 Inland surface water standards for some physical and chemical contaminants Contaminant Standard Unit Colour 15 Hazen Odour one - Tutbidily 10 i Temperature 20-30 °C Total cissolvad solids (TOS) 000 pom ‘Suspended sold particles (SSP, 10 pom oH 6585 2 Chloride (Ci 150-600 ppm Sulphate (S0,) 400 pm Nitrate (NO3)

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