Life cannot survive without water. Dhaka Water And Sewerage Authority (WASA) is responsible for supplying adequate water to city dwellers. It refines and filters surface water from the Shitalakhya River to supply that water.

Owing to excess pollution from industrial waste and river water, the colour of the water it supplies to us is now sometimes pungent and black. Most of the waste chemicals poured in by industries dissolve in water and cannot be removed by the refining process of WASA's water treatment plant. City dwellers are left with no other option but to use the polluted water.

Normal water has no colour, but WASA's refined water has a light yellowish colour mostly during summer.

Sediment can also be seen depositing in buckets where water is kept. The environmental department needs to come forward to help WASA supply pure water by imposing fines on industries responsible for polluting water in the Shitalakhya river.

The amount of fine should be big enough so that top management of such hazardous industries are careful not to pollute water and so that they also consider the option of using effluent treatment plants rather than pay fines.

Mohammad Ashraf Hossain, By email