Health impact due to subsistence use of polluted water of Shitalakkhya river

Abstract

The Shitalakkhya River is one of the main rivers around Dhaka city. The pollution of this river resulting from discharge of industrial waste effluent, domestic wastewater and agrochemicals into this river has reached alarming levels. The industries release many types of pollutants including many toxic heavy metals. The industrial units include dyeing/printing factories, edible oil factories, paper and pulp mills, chemical industries, jute mills, textile mills, soap factories, power plants, etc. Many of the industrial units drain out effluents directly into the river Shitalakkhya. But still this river water has many subsistence uses such as drinking, cooking, bathing, washing, fishing, boating, livestock grooming, and vegetable cultivation. The present study is aimed to observe existing pollution status of the river, document the use of river water and asses health impact due to use of this river water especially on women and children. For collection of data and information, the river has been divided into four reaches and then Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were carried out at different reaches to identify subsistence uses of river water and the resulting health impacts. The river has been divided into four reaches on the basis of observation of pollution status of the river. The reaches are- Rupganj, Tarabo, Demra, Shiddhirganj. The pollution intensity is different in the four reaches as the number and type of industry are different in different reaches. As the pollution intensity and socio economic condition is different, subsistence uses of river water are also different in different reaches. River water has different types of subsistence uses but the uses of water vary with season. Due to pollution of river water, people are suffering from acute shortage of pure water. As a result, negative impact on public health was observed in all the reaches. Besides, negative impacts on health also occur due to pollutants that are entering into human body either through direct consumption or through food chain. The common diseases that are found in the study area are skin diseases, diarrhea, jaundice, cholera and dysentery. Due to pollution of river water children are particularly vulnerable to health impacts.