Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene in Bangladesh: An Investigation of Lohagara Upazila

In Lohagara Upazila and other rural areas of Chittagong, a few NGOs have been working to resolve water, sanitation and health (WaSH) problems. But it is still an issue of unresolved dearth of education and sufficient lucre. This paper is based on a survey of 72 rural families that were selected randomly in two unions of Lohagara Upazila to explore the current status and adopted measures. It appears that about one quarter of rural people are deprived of safe drinking water. Among other sources, they utilize pond water, which typically is polluted by micro-organisms and other impurities. Access to sanitary latrines is also low. Only 12.5 percent of the 24 lower class families use sanitary latrines (SLs), mostly because they cannot afford to utilize SLs. Even among the 24 middle class families, half do not use proper latrines. Both government and NGOs should come forward to support these rural people and reduce their problems, which have negative implications on the whole country.