4 crore people face acute health risks due to pure water crisis: State Minister

As much as 26% of the country’s population do not have access to safe drinking water, putting around four crore people at risk of facing extreme health complications, said State Minister for Water Resources Farhad Hossain Azad on Saturday.

The state minister issued the dire warning at a seminar of water rights hosted by the United International University (UIU) on its campus in the capital.

UIU’s Civil Engineering Department and the university’s Centre for Smart Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability jointly organised the seminar, which was focused on the slogan of World Water Day 2026: “Water and Gender: Where Water Flows, Equality Grows.”

Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) Founder and Executive Chairman Hossain Zillur Rahman said sources of drinking water are declining every day.

Everyone has a right to safe water, but before ensuring this right, people must first become aware of the right use of water and earth, he noted.

Water’s safety level depends on how the land and earth are being used, he said.

Water is the Almighty’s gift to mankind, and it must be utilised responsibly to reap the blessings, he added.