Water as Leverage- Setting the scene for a call for action

Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities Asia Setting the Scene for a Call for Action Content
Sanitation Khulna is affected
by major health problems, relating mostly
to scarcity of water and food, and a lack
of waste management, sanitation and
access to healthcare. For one, 80% of
Khulna’s population has access to some
form of sanitation in the urban areas and the
surrounding region. Most of these sanitation
systems are below minimum standards and are
shared by many people. On average, a toilet
is shared by twenty families, with five to eight
members each (Tusar, 2017).
For the procurement of drinking water, informal
settlements tend to use the ponds, tube
wells and rivers which at the same time are
being contaminated by waste (Tusar, 2017).
Recently, formal and informal pipe systems
have been built throughout the city to improve
the water supply network. These informal pipe
systems suffer from leakage from time to time
and contribute to erosion of the river banks
(Rekittke, 2009; KWASA, 2017).
Khulna
Agriculture Agriculture is still
one of Khulna’s main economic activities,
on a small scale in urban areas, and more
extensively in rural zones. The Khulna
masterplan defines the land use distribution as
46% for residential, 18% for agriculture, 15%
for industry and 5% for commercial use.
On the western outskirts of the city, as well
as on the eastern side of the river, shrimp
farming causes extensive salinization and
contamination by using salt and chemicals to
accommodate the shrimp. Not only does this
affect the availability of drinking water, it also
affects fertility of the land and thus future food
supplies (Shamsuzzaman, 2012).
The risk of food shortage due to salinization
should be taken seriously, given recent reports
of disabilities due to weak bone structure as
a consequence of chronic malnourishment
(Lovatt, 2016). Moreover, the 2011 census
pointed out that 40% of the population
in Khulna’s region suffers from physical
disabilities (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics,
2011). Although a causal link is missing, it
is likely that the aforementioned issues of
malnourishment contribute to this problem.
At this moment, Khulna’s most relevant
educational and research facilities are
universities that specialize in engineering,
technology and agriculture. Khulna’s main
university is positioned in the southwest, which
is projected to be an important area for the
future development of the city. The agricultural
college is positioned in the northern part of the
city nearby an important agricultural hub within
the city. The agricultural college is currently
experimenting with using waterlogging as a
resource for aquaponics, which can be seen as
a positive development given that Khulna has
the ambition to enhance urban-rural linkages
(Awal, 2014; Asian Development Bank, 2016).
Also in the north is Khulna’s University for
Engineering and Technology, which, according
to local experts, currently seems to be
focusing on waterfront development.
Salt intrusion in
the southwest of
Bangladesh.
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Water Issues
PART 2/Background Information on the Partner Cities
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