Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation is going to set up more than 500 solar-powered desalination plants in three coastal districts, Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat to promote access to safe drinking water particularly for the low-income groups.
PKSF, a government-established apex organisation for poverty reduction, made the announcement on Tuesday at an inception workshop on its Safe Water Project, held at its head office PKSF Bhaban in Agargaon in Dhaka city, its press release issued on the day said.
According to PKSF officials, the project, financed by the Adaptation Fund, aims to increase access to drinking water from current 30.3 per cent to 95 per cent within the next three years, directly benefiting around five lakh coastal inhabitants.聽
According to their explanation, the plants will be equipped with reverse osmosis technology in which water is forced at high pressure through a semi-permeable membrane, allowing only water molecules to pass through while blocking salts and other contaminants.
Special priority will be given to extreme-poor households, forest-dependent families and marginalised rural communities, they added.
The workshop was chaired by PKSF managing director Md Fazlul Kader.
Additional managing director Dr Mohammad Jashim Uddin, deputy managing directors Dr Fazle Rabbi Sadeque Ahmed and Md Hasan Khaled, and general manager Dr AKM Nuruzzaman also spoke at the workshop.聽
In his address, managing director Fazlul Kader said, 鈥楽aline water consumption has been causing health issues like waterborne diseases, skin problems, hypertension, and adverse impact on women鈥檚 reproductive health in coastal areas. PKSF will install desalination plants through an appropriate business solution to tackle this crisis.鈥�
Additional managing director Jashim Uddin noted that PKSF had been working to ensure safe drinking water in coastal districts since Cyclone Sidr in 2007.