Due to climate change, the salinity of seawater continues to increase. Every dry season, Bagerhat, a coastal district bordering the Bay of Bengal and Sundarbans, faces an acute crisis of safe drinking water. Government measures to tackle the issue fall far short of the demand, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents struggling for potable water.

A field survey reveals that seven out of Bagerhat`s nine sub-districts, excluding Fakirhat and Mollahat, are grappling with severe drinking water shortages. Shallow tube wells in these areas yield highly saline or arsenic-contaminated water, rendering them unusable. Previously, people relied on these tube wells, but their installation has now been discontinued by the government.

Locals are forced to depend on pond water, with thousands in some villages relying on a single pond. Consumption of this water, often drawn from unhygienic conditions, has led to waterborne diseases in certain areas. Many ponds dry up early in the dry season due to prolonged lack of rainfall and years of neglect.

To address this, the government initiated the excavation of ponds under the jurisdiction of the district council, excavating 155 government ponds across the nine sub-districts. Solar-powered water filters were also installed at some pond sites.

However, these efforts largely failed. After excavation, influential locals began using the ponds for fish farming, introducing fish feed that made the water unsuitable for consumption. Moreover, many solar-powered filters became non-functional, with some failing to produce a single drop of water due to poor-quality equipment installed by contractors.

As a result, the drinking water crisis has worsened. Shipra Rani, a resident of Dakra village in Rampal, lamented, "We are facing an acute shortage of drinking water. A supply line was installed here, but the water is saline. Even so, we have to wait for hours to get a single pitcher of water."

Jayanta Mallik, Executive Engineer of the Bagerhat Public Health Engineering Department, acknowledged the crisis and stated, "The government has taken various initiatives, and some projects are still ongoing to address the drinking water shortage."