South Asia News
Bangladesh deploys army to guard water pumps
By DPA
May 14, 2006, 19:00 GMT

Dhaka - Soldiers were deployed to pump stations and water treatment plants in Dhaka Sunday after the Bangladeshi government called in the army to protect public utilities from mobs demanding a regular supply of water and electricity, officials said.

Soldiers were told to ration water supply to a city with an estimated population of 10 million - a quarter of whom have no access to safe water at home.

The measure followed reports of riots in several residential districts on the outskirts of Dhaka where water supply has been severed for more than two weeks in sweltering heat.

Angry crowds attacked power generation plants across the country as the state-run Power Development Board was forced to take drastic load shedding measures in order to meet acute electricity shortages. Load shedding involves cutting power to some areas in order to meet electricity needs elsewhere.

People besieged water pump stations in the Demra district and threatened to block a nearby highway linking Dhaka with the main port city of Chittagong in the south.

At least 150 people were injured in repeated clashes last week when riot police fired rubber bullets after stone-throwing protesters demanded water and electricity.

\'The disruptions have brought untold sufferings to the people besides causing economic losses,\' said leading economic analyst Muzaffar Ahmad.

The government-managed Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) said scanty rainfall and a delayed monsoon had pushed the groundwater table down and reduced the volume of water that could be pumped out.

WASA officials in Dhaka said they had drilled four more deep wells in April to augment the present water volume of 1,580 million litres a day.