“Let reason and facts prevail otherwise perception creeps unfairly” - Voltaire.

As citizens we have both rights and obligations to review and assess prudently how public utility organisations are performing. If these institutions are doing well, we need to appreciate and support their programs. However, should there be deficiencies in delivering outputs, we need to raise these with the organisational authorities concerned with a professional and problem-solving approach. If required we may extend cooperation to the Management in resolving those.

Dhaka WASA functions based on ‘WASA Act 1996’ and corresponding service rules. According to WASA Act-1966 Dhaka WASA is a Government owned Autonomous public utility. The WASA Act is unique for all the WASA’s and different from public sector or private entity corporate rules. Dhaka WASA Board is the custodian of WASA act and the Board can take any decisions for the betterment of WASA Services within the framework of the law i.e WASA Act 1996. The Managing Director is the head of the organization and responsible to run WASA in a better way, and entrusted with the responsibility of supplying water to the growing population of Dhaka city.

Due to some technical constraints it was not possible to recruit Deputy Managing Director for Dhaka WASA for a long time which created difficulties to run the WASA activities.To overcome these difficulties, within the WASA Act-96 Article 30, the Board gave approval for appointment of two experienced and competent ex-Chief Engineers of Dhaka WASA as Directors temporally as Engineers of Dhaka WASA as Directors temporally as their services were needed to run the WASA activities smoothly. Though the position Director was not in the organogram, WASA Act-96 gave the authority to the Board to create and appoint such posts. To meet the requirements of newly constructed highly technical water treatment plants, Dhaka WASA created some new posts and recruited accordingly. Dhaka WASA duly clarified that the appointment was not in violation of WASA Act 1996 and Services Rules 2010. This was accordingly resolved.

On the functional aspects, based on feedback from several consumers Dhaka WASA is doing its job with due professionalism, transparency and accountability. Previously there was a huge scarcity of water in Dhaka. The present administration is doing its best to tackle the situation efficiently. Keeping in view the need for effective solutions, Dhaka WASA took initiatives to address challenges and present better results. As a result indicators reflected improvements.The objective was to make Dhaka WASA customer-friendly and bankable.

Considering these developments and changes made by its Managing Director Engr. Taqsem A Khan, the Government appointed/reappointed him following all the rules and regulations. Several clients and stakeholders are of the view Mr. Khan took the ‘Turnaround Program’ for capacity building, prepared Master Plans and implemented various programs in a transparent and structured manner. Despite challenges, he was able to transform Dhaka WASA into Digital WASA in compliance with the Government’s vision. Some of the key development partners also referred to the transition and progress in Dhaka WASA as credible and effective.

As regards the quality of water supplied by Dhaka WASA, sampling tests conducted by experts found 32 out of 34 samples (94%) quality were within acceptable standards. Only 2 samples containing some faecal coliform due to faulty connection were corrected. DWASA took the initiative to change all the old pipelines of Dhaka city

with the objective of making a sophisticated DMA smart water management system by December 2023. Dhaka WASA in collaboration with icddr, tested water samples to ensure no germs of cholera were found in Dhaka WASA’s supply water.

In it's own institutional interest and perspective, Dhaka WASA has reassured all concerned to strengthen its

efforts to supply clean water to the city residents.Dhaka WASA runs through rules and regulation and it is not possible for a state-owned organisation to run beyond accountability.

Finally, at times it is unfortunate to see fabricated and hypothetical comments against Dhaka WASA and its Managing Director without ascertaining issues and facts.The authorities are doing their best to fulfill their institutional and functional mandate. Dhaka WASA and its MD have assured they are open to fruitful consultations and recommendations for further improvements. Let us extend necessary advice, support and cooperation to ensure Dhaka WASA can enhance its effectiveness and achieve better in the times ahead. 

The writer is an Economist, Policy Analyst and Governance Specialist. He may be reached at e-mail:[email protected]