Drinking Water Insecurity in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh: How Far to SDG 6.1?
Substantial progress has been seen in the drinking water supply as per the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), but achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly SGD 6.1 regarding safely managed drinking water with much more stringent targets, is considered as a development challeng...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/24/3571 |
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| author | Mohammad Jobayer Hossain Md. Arif Chowdhury Sayka Jahan Rashed Uz Zzaman Syed Labib Ul Islam |
| author_facet | Mohammad Jobayer Hossain Md. Arif Chowdhury Sayka Jahan Rashed Uz Zzaman Syed Labib Ul Islam |
| author_sort | Mohammad Jobayer Hossain |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Substantial progress has been seen in the drinking water supply as per the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), but achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly SGD 6.1 regarding safely managed drinking water with much more stringent targets, is considered as a development challenge. The problem is more acute in low-income water-scarce hard-to-reach areas such as the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh, where complex hydrogeological conditions and adverse water quality contribute to a highly vulnerable and insecure water environment. Following the background, this study investigated the challenges and potential solutions to drinking water insecurity in a water-scarce area of southwest coastal Bangladesh using a mixed-methods approach. The findings revealed that water insecurity arises from unimproved, deteriorated, unaffordable, and unreliable sources that have significant time and distance burdens. High rates of technical dysfunction of the existing water infrastructure contribute to water insecurity as well. Consequently, safely managed water services are accessible to only 12% of the population, whereas 64% of the population does not have basic water. To reach the SDG 6.1 target, this underserved community needs well-functioning readily accessible water infrastructure with formal institutional arrangement rather than self-governance, which seems unsuccessful in this low-income context. This study will help the government and its development partners in implementing SDG action plans around investments to a reliable supply of safe water to the people living in water-scarce hard-to-reach coastal areas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:53:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b40fa1d7763943be822145dc419bbef0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:53:29Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-b40fa1d7763943be822145dc419bbef02023-11-23T11:01:11ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412021-12-011324357110.3390/w13243571Drinking Water Insecurity in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh: How Far to SDG 6.1?Mohammad Jobayer Hossain0Md. Arif Chowdhury1Sayka Jahan2Rashed Uz Zzaman3Syed Labib Ul Islam4School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USADepartment of Climate and Disaster Management, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore 7408, BangladeshDepartment of Environmental Science and Technology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore 7408, BangladeshInstitute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, BangladeshInstitute of Water and Flood Management, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, BangladeshSubstantial progress has been seen in the drinking water supply as per the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), but achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly SGD 6.1 regarding safely managed drinking water with much more stringent targets, is considered as a development challenge. The problem is more acute in low-income water-scarce hard-to-reach areas such as the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh, where complex hydrogeological conditions and adverse water quality contribute to a highly vulnerable and insecure water environment. Following the background, this study investigated the challenges and potential solutions to drinking water insecurity in a water-scarce area of southwest coastal Bangladesh using a mixed-methods approach. The findings revealed that water insecurity arises from unimproved, deteriorated, unaffordable, and unreliable sources that have significant time and distance burdens. High rates of technical dysfunction of the existing water infrastructure contribute to water insecurity as well. Consequently, safely managed water services are accessible to only 12% of the population, whereas 64% of the population does not have basic water. To reach the SDG 6.1 target, this underserved community needs well-functioning readily accessible water infrastructure with formal institutional arrangement rather than self-governance, which seems unsuccessful in this low-income context. This study will help the government and its development partners in implementing SDG action plans around investments to a reliable supply of safe water to the people living in water-scarce hard-to-reach coastal areas.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/24/3571drinking water insecuritysustainable development goalsafely managed waterlow-income regioncoastal Bangladesh |
| spellingShingle | Mohammad Jobayer Hossain Md. Arif Chowdhury Sayka Jahan Rashed Uz Zzaman Syed Labib Ul Islam Drinking Water Insecurity in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh: How Far to SDG 6.1? Water drinking water insecurity sustainable development goal safely managed water low-income region coastal Bangladesh |
| title | Drinking Water Insecurity in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh: How Far to SDG 6.1? |
| title_full | Drinking Water Insecurity in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh: How Far to SDG 6.1? |
| title_fullStr | Drinking Water Insecurity in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh: How Far to SDG 6.1? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Drinking Water Insecurity in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh: How Far to SDG 6.1? |
| title_short | Drinking Water Insecurity in Southwest Coastal Bangladesh: How Far to SDG 6.1? |
| title_sort | drinking water insecurity in southwest coastal bangladesh how far to sdg 6 1 |
| topic | drinking water insecurity sustainable development goal safely managed water low-income region coastal Bangladesh |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/13/24/3571 |
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