The decades-long problem of waste water flowing into Akhaura upazila from India鈥檚 Agartala remains unresolved even though the Indian authority commissioned a sewage treatment plant nine months ago.
Authorities in Bangladesh have expressed their concerns over the persisting round-the-year problem that affects public health in Akhaura of Brahmanbaria district.聽聽
Mohammed Didarul Alam, deputy commissioner of Brahmanbaria, told 抖阴精品 on Friday, 鈥楾he persistent water pollution proves that the low-capacity STP in Agartala is inadequate.鈥�
The waste water flows through the Akhaura channel, which was dug by the erstwhile princely state of Tripura for transportation of goods to and from the then Bengal.
The channel stretches about 4 kilometres from the Agartala municipality to the Bangladesh-India border outpost in Akhaura and flows through the Katakhal and Kalapania canals for about 8km before reaching the Titas River in Bangladesh.聽
After the 1947 partition, transportation through the channel stopped permanently and while the water body gradually became a drainage reservoir for Agartala鈥檚 waste water from industries, hospitals, and the municipality, according to a news report published by Indian news outlet Business Standard.
According to a Tripura government document, the construction of four STPs with a total capacity of treating 31.5-megalitres-per-day waste water had been planned for treating the maximum waste water generated in Agartala.
Among the four STPs, only an 8-MLD plant was commissioned near the Akhaura Road in Agartala on December 22 last year.聽
The remaining STPs have not been completed within the stipulated timeframe, which was March this year, according to the Tripura government鈥檚 document.
The Department of Environment鈥檚 latest water quality analysis found dissolved oxygen below the minimum permissible limit of 5.0 milligrams per litre in the Akhaura channel in the Bangladesh part.
Moreover, more biochemical oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand than the permissible limits of 30 mg/L and 50 mg/L respectively, were also found in the water, said a DoE officer, preferring anonymity.
Akhaura upazila health and family planning officer Md Himel Khan said that most of the patients coming from the localities along the polluted Akhaura channel suffered from acute skin disease.
鈥業 understand that the polluted water slowly contaminates the paddy and fish farms. I recommend extensive research on its health impacts,鈥� Himel said.
Periodically, Border Guard Bangladesh officials share Bangladesh鈥檚 concerns over the polluted Akhaura channel with their Indian counterparts.
Brahmanbaria DC Didarul said, 鈥楢s far as I know, the Agartala Municipal authorities are equally concerned and they are trying to complete the rest of three STPs in the shortest possible time.鈥�
Water resources ministry adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan said, 鈥楾o minimise the water pollution, we may analyse whether setting up an STP in Akhaura upazila would be feasible or not.鈥�
