RAJSHAHI, Nov 6, 2021 (BSS) - A community of 101 ethnic minority

households in a remote area of Barind region has got access to safe drinking
water since installation of a submersible pump around three years back.

  Located in Hapania village at Goala Union Parishad (UP) of Sapahar Upazila
in Naogaon district, the community had to suffer a lot for insufficient
drinking water and water crisis. But at present, their long-lasting plight
has been over after getting the pump.

  Location of the community is hard-to-reach as it is isolated by vast
cropping fields and it is around one kilometer away from the nearby road.

  Mitin Saren, 48, wife of Sukhai Saren, is now happy for getting safe
drinking water. "We had to face multifarious problems in fetching water for
our six-member family," said Mitin while talking to BSS, adding that the
problem has now been resolved.

   Rekha Saren, 32, wife of Kartik Saren, also expressed her happiness,
saying she is now getting safe water for her three-member family.

  UP Chairman Mukhlesur Rahman said due to the submersible pump a derelict
pond has also been re-excavated at the initiative of Integrated Water
Resource Management (IWRM) project benefiting the community to a greater
extent.

   DASCOH Foundation and Swiss Red Cross are jointly implementing the project
in 39 UPs and three Pourasabhas in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and Naogaon
districts supported by Switzerland.

   The project is supplying safe drinking water in drought-prone areas where
acute crisis of drinking water exists. Its main objective is to supply
potable water to all people in the targeted area round-the-year.

   With intervention of the project, around 1.10 lakh people of 26,675
families, including 18,332 ethnic minority ones, have been brought under safe
drinking water sources through commissioning 406 submersible pumps in the
high Barind tract since 2015 last.

  A total of five solar panels were installed to operate five pumps in the
off-grid villages.