Dhaka Wasa’s move to hike water tariff amid pandemic as inhumane, against fundamental rights: Jamaat Dhaka City South

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Dhaka City South has strongly criticized the move taken by the Dhaka WASA to hike the price of water during the Covid- 19 crisis.
Terming the proposal to increase the price of water in the capital as the inhumane and against fundamental rights, Nurul Islam Bulbul, ameer of the Jamaat Dhaka City South and Dr. Shafiqul Islam Masud, secretary of the Jamaat Dhaka City South, called upon the government to refrain from taking the decision immediately.
In a joint statement issued here on Tuesday, they said where people all over the world are suffering from huge financial hardship during the pandemic and struggling with for their lives and livelihoods, the government has taken the unacceptable and tyrannical decision which must be cancelled immediately to remove the common people’s anguish and agony.
In such a reality, the initiative to increase the price of water, which is one of the elements to save lives, is tragic and contrary to fundamental rights, they lamented.
“This irrational decision will adversely affect the livelihoods of the city people. We strongly protest against it”, they insisted.
In the statement, the leaders further said that to meet the basic needs of the people is an important responsibility of the government, they said.
However, the government has not yet been able to meet the basic needs of the people living in the capital. It has not been able to ensure safe and clean water supply for all people. Besides, the water in many areas of the capital Dhaka is unsuitable for use as it has a foul odor, they further said.
For a long time, ordinary people have been reacting angrily for ensuring safe water for them. The initiative taken by the Dhaka WASA authorities to increase the price of water instead of solving the problem of safe water is undesirable and against the public interest, the central leaders said.
Their initiative will only increase the suffering of the people instead of serving them. In this situation, the decision to increase the price is a ‘death knell’, they again said.
After the formation of the Awami League government in 2009, the price of water was increased 13 times in the last 13 years. If the decision to increase the price is implemented this time, the price of water will increase 14 times in total, they pointed out.
The proposal to increase the price of water to Tk 15. 18 per thousand liters for residents and Tk 42 for commercial factories is not acceptable at all, they said.
In order to ensure the fundamental needs of the city people, the Dhaka WASA needs to take effective steps to solve the problem of safe and clean water supply permanently, they added.
They also called upon the concerned authorities to refrain from taking this unreasonable decision for the interest of the people during this national and international catastrophe.