Collective efforts imperative to water security
Roundtable discussion held in Chattogram for accelerating change to solve water crisis
Rapid and unplanned industrialisation in the country has resulted in depletion of groundwater levels and contamination of surface water. Even cities outside the capital are heavily affected by the water crisis. The country's commercial capital Chattogram has recorded a 20m decline in groundwater level over the past 40 years.
Experts have been increasingly worried as they know well how the history of civilisation has evolved around the proximity to freshwater and how the depleting groundwater level and contaminating surface water level can hurt Bangladesh, its people, economy and of course the businesses.
Kalurghat industrial area, an industrial hub in Chattogram, is facing a number of problems caused by a severe water shortage as the groundwater level is going down by several feet every year, posing a big threat.
To address this problem, industries need to take collective initiatives with an aim to explore scope of protecting and managing water efficiently, experts and business leaders stressed at a roundtable discussion titled "Accelerating Change: Decentralising the Conversation on Water Stewardship", held at Radisson Blu Chattogram Bay View on 18 March on the occasion of World Water Day 2023.
The programme was jointly organised by Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and WaterAid Bangladesh.
To accelerate the positive changes and start the conversation, the roundtable discussion was arranged in alignment with this year's theme for World Water Day, which calls for expediting change and taking collective efforts to solve the water crisis by changing the way we use, consume, and manage water.
WaterAid's Country Director Hasin Jahan, Unilever Bangladesh Managing Director and CEO Zaved Akhtar, FICCI Director and Korean Export Processing Zone Chairman Jahangir Sadaat took part in the roundtable discussion and shared their insights.
Dr Tanvir Ahmed, professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and director of ITN-BUET, presented the key findings and recommendations from a rapid situation assessment of Kalurghat heavy industrial area. The assessment found that the industrial pollution in Chattogram, especially industrial wastewater pollution is on the rise, posing serious threat to the surface water sources.
He recommended the Department of Environment (DOE) to increase their vigilance over industries before the water sources reach their tipping point. Dr Tanvir also said a comprehensive assessment of the industrial area needs to be done taking into consideration the various water uses, competing water demands, reuse potential, and aquifer health to make data driven decisions. Industry representatives, academicians and representatives from service-oriented public institutions were
also present.
Speakers also underscored the need for creating scopes of collaboration among industries of Kalurghat and thinking beyond industries to ensure water security and retain water health.
Meanwhile, relevant stakeholders shared industrial best practices of water management for peers.
Speakers at the programme said sustainability-practicing industries are that big in number and it is important to engage their unaware peers in the journey to conserve and protect water resources.
Suggestions and insights shared at the roundtable are expected to stimulate changes in the perspective of the industry stakeholders with regards to sustainable water management and strengthen collaboration among the industries.
Big businesses should form alliance for water management
Hasin Jahan, Country Director, WaterAid Bangladesh
Multinational corporations (MNCs) are demonstrating evidence of viable water management in their industries and we need to take a step further to collectively record these cases for creating a knowledge bank of good practices.
This will eventually help us do evidence-based advocacy and start a dialogue with the government to acknowledge the private sector's contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) six, which is about ensuring clean water and sanitation for everyone.
We all try to save money for the future, for the future of our children. What will happen, if our children have money but no water, the result will be dire. We have directly supported five industries, mostly ready-made garments, where they have harvested rainwater to wash and dye clothes as rainwater has a low pH value and does not require treatment.
Moreover, we have worked together on the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) needs of their workers, which benefited their business in many ways. In our recent study (Boosting Business), we have found that their return on investment is around $7 for each $1 investment for WASH.
The business community can form an alliance. It does not require many resources. Awareness is essential and only minor changes in the mindset.
Right now, we need to do two things. One is to understand the condition of our underground water. How much water there is and when it might run out.
Another is to monitor the surface water conditions and plan for appropriate action. The alliance of big industries may also open up opportunities for medium and small-scale enterprises to horizontally learn from the good practices of sustainable water management and joint advocacy with the government to recognise the industry's contribution to the attainment of SDG six.
Rainwater harvesting key to water security
Jahangir Saadat, Director, FICCI & Chairman, KEPZ
In recent times, Bangladesh has reached a new height globally in terms of economic growth through industrialisation. But at the same time, it is a matter of concern that Bangladesh's rapid transformation through industrialisation is posing threats to the environment, especially to available water resources.
The industries increasingly appear to be over-dependent on groundwater and the demand will increase in the coming years. Excessive extraction of groundwater to meet the demand is causing the depression of groundwater level in heavy industrial areas. Besides, unplanned industrialisation is a bigger threat for groundwater depletion and deterioration of surface water.
The depletion of groundwater level renders shallow tube-wells, used by millions of houses, inoperable.
Chattogram is often termed as the country's commercial capital that accommodates large industrial areas that are heavily dependent on water. The groundwater level of Chattogram has declined by 20m over the past 40 years, and dropped 2.2-2.65m every year in recent times.
The city's Kalighat industrial area has 134 industries on 134 hectares of land, which is witnessing a severe crunch in terms of growing production and water demand.
Most importantly, water affects everyone. So, we need everyone to take a concerted action.
Industries in the KEPZ are using rainwater harvesting systems and water efficient technologies.
There are major benefits of rainwater harvesting including improvement of environmental conditions, and the emergence of flora and fauna in the area. By harvesting rainwater, KEPZ could improve the groundwater level, ensure supply of ample water in neighbouring villages, stop siltation at the outfall and prevent flood in the surrounding areas.
Need collective actions to protect water resources
Zaved Akhtar, MD & CEO, Unilever Bangladesh
Water is essential for a healthy society, environment and economy, and access to clean water is a basic human right.
Unfortunately over two billion people live in countries experiencing high water stress – the gap between water availability and water use.
The case for Bangladesh is no different. Despite Bangladesh being a delta country with more than 700 rivers, our country is facing a water crisis due to a combination of factors, including climate change, rapid population growth, and inefficient water management. The country is heavily dependent on groundwater, which is being rapidly depleted due to over-extraction. Additionally, surface water sources are being polluted by industrial waste and agricultural runoff. As a result, millions of people in Bangladesh lack access to safe drinking water and suffer from waterborne diseases.
The water crisis also has far-reaching implications for industries, agriculture, fisheries, and the overall economy of the country. For businesses, the end-to-end creation and use of our products are dependent on continued access to water.
Chattogram is home to a diverse range of industries that rely heavily on water. Due to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, there has been a sharp rise in demand for water in the city. This has resulted in groundwater levels in the city decreasing by 20m in the last four decades, and the Kalurghat Industrial Area, which is home to 134 industries, is already struggling to meet increasing production demands and the corresponding water requirements. As many of the country's leading industries are based here, there is no better time than now to start the dialogue to raise awareness and take collaborative actions to ensure water security.
Businesses have a collective responsibility to promote sustainable practices and reduce their water usage. I look forward to learning from dialogues with industries about the challenges they face, the innovative solutions they are taking to address the problems, and the best practices we can adopt from.
Karnaphuli River yet to die, if measures not taken now it will
Tanvir Ahmed, PhD, Director, ITN-Buet
Rapid sample tests from different points of Karnaphuli river results concerning fact, however the river condition is yet to be that polluted like the Dhaka rivers (Buriganga, Turag or Balu). Those rivers with zero oxygen concentration in many instances and dangerous contamination by industrial waste are dead by now. If the Department of Environment does not increase its vigilance for Karnaphuli and industries do not take adequate measures for treatment of wastewater, one-day Department of Environment (DOE) may announce the area as an ecologically endangered one.
Groundwater level, a great resource, is depleting by 3 metres every year in the industrial areas of Dhaka due to excessive extraction. It is up to 2 metres a year for the Chattogram area. The rapid depletion of groundwater level caused more than fifty thousand tubewells to dry in the last 20 years, 50 lakh people are in drinking water crisis, 1,250 industries are suffering water crisis.
In Dhaka the river water is so contaminated that treating it for city water supply did not remain viable for the authority, while the Chattogram WASA is still dependent on surface water treatments from Karnaphuli and Halda. Industries by the banks of Karnaphuli are treating their wastes, which is insufficient. Therefore, it is high time for industries to wake up in terms of setting higher standards for wastewater treatment, as DOE is about to come with much more stringent standards in the coming days.
Alliances are required as no industry alone cannot solve the problem. Unified voice and efforts can put us in a position to solve the water problem.
Unilever pioneering work on water consumption
Somnath Chougule, Factory Director, Unilever Bangladesh Limited
Long before the Environmental Social Governance (ESG) initiatives started in industries, Unilever has been doing pioneering work in consuming water. We started the journey as a part of our working philosophy from 2010 onwards.
Our products are majorly dependent on water, and because of our strong focus on building a sustainable business and improving climate health, we have been working to improve our product's formulation to reduce water quantity, improve the technology to reduce water wastage, and reuse and efficiently use water without our production facilities. Water usage and use of energy have a critical focus within our system, and we monitor our sustainable water consumption targets the same way we do for our business targets.
For example, we have a set target every year to reduce water consumption. We have almost reduced 39% consumption of water in the last ten years. One of the common initiatives which we started from 2013 onwards is rainwater harvesting.
We are reusing more than 60 million litres per year by installing engineering solutions.
We have a world-class Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP), which is one of the biggest and the first one in Kalurghat industrial area, where we have maximum processing capacity of 400 tonnes per day. Since 2015, we have recycled 129 million litres of water from wastewater and reused it in the factory. Our target is to bring down water wastage to net zero.
Natural water needs to be well taken care of
Shamima Aktar, Director for Corporate Affairs, Partnerships & Communications Unilever Bangladesh Limited
This roundtable discussion is expected to open-up opportunities for collaboration in contributing to water security.
Chattogram is the second-largest city and commercial capital (in Bangladesh). This city is the house of diverse industries that are driving the country's economic development.
Industries need water for production, and we all know that Bangladesh has been blessed with huge water bodies, the strength we have. But unfortunately, this natural resource has not been taken care of well by all of us. We ignore the true economic value, and we have forgotten collective responsibility to conserve water resources.
To overcome the water and wastewater crisis, we need united actions. Therefore, the theme for World Water Day 2023, 'Accelerating Change,' calls for collective efforts to make a difference by changing the way we use, consume, and manage water.
We hope that today's discussion will enable us to share our experiences, best practices, and initiatives and foster collaboration among industries to strengthen communication and take action.
