Water initiative for the urban poor

Abstract

BANGLADESH IS WELL known as a country with heavy bias towards agriculture but this is changing.Bangladesh is rapidly becoming urbanized.It has been predicted that by the year 2025 more than fifty percent of the Bangladesh population will be living in urban areas.This urban shift of population will change people's food habits, demand for housing and other things.In view of all this the demand for standard WATSAN services will also increase.Bangladesh experienced a very high rate (8%) of urbanization during 1961-81 periods.However the trend is now declining (5.4 % during 1981-1991 period), and it is expected to remain at not less than 3.9 % until 2015.Migration alone contributed 40% of the urban population increase during 1974-81 period.According to the 1991 census Bangladesh has five hundred and twenty two (522) urban centres or urban areas.The definition of an 'Urban area' is that it is a developed area around an identifiable central place, where amenities like metalled roads, communication facilities, electricity, gas, water supply, sewerage and sanitation services are available and the population is dense.The majority of the population are from non-farming backgrounds.In 1991, of the522 urban areas, four large metropolitan cities (Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi) held about 46% of the total urban population.Dhaka had a population of 6.95 million which was 29 % of the urban population in 1991.Currently the urbanization rate is 5-6% per annum and predictions suggests that more than 50% of the country's population will be living in urban areas by the year 2025.So this means we are faced with new challenges of governance and demands for services.In this changing scenario a huge number of people will be living in urban slum areas with great demands for water and sanitation services.Government leadership/ institutions does not recognize the role of urban slum dwellers in the urban economy.But the informal economy in urban areas of this country plays a very important role in producing increased economic growth.Generally people living in urban slum areas are devoid of access to a legal water supply and sanitation.Provision of access to basic services is a first pre-requisite for the alleviation of poverty, economic growth and prosperity.

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