WASH Challenges in Slum Areas of Dhaka City- Presented by Dr. M. Ashraf Ali Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, BUET & Director, ITN-BUET

WASHCHALLENGES IN SLUM AREAS OF

DHAKA CITYDr. M. Ashraf Ali

Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, BUET &

Director, ITN-BUET

19 June 2014

Urbanization• Over 40 million people (around 27% of the total

population) live in various cities in Bangladesh• An increase of 10 million from 2001

• This number is calculated to be increase to about 68 million by 2015

• The trend of population growth is leading the Dhaka city to be one of the most populous city of the world by 2020.

• About 40% of the total urban population of Bangladesh lives in slums with inadequate facilities.

• There are 3,500-4,000 big, medium, and small slums in Dhaka city

Hard to Reach People - Slums

• In the HTR strategy urban slums are identified as hard-to-reach people.

• The strategy called for ‘Area Specific Strategies’ for urban slums as the slums, despite having better road and communication system, still suffer due to lack of support from government authorities regarding water and sanitation initiatives

Objective • The objective of this study is to assess the current situation of WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) in selected slum areas

• Specifically

• To establish evidence based strong rationale for improving access to WASH services for slum dwellers;

• To influence relevant stakeholders including GoB line departments, donors, I/NGOs and raise public awareness on resilient water and sanitation interventions for slum dwellers;

Study locationsName of Slum Location/Address No. of

HHsLand

OwnershipIntervention

StatusBadda (Shahjadpur) Jheelper Slum

East side of Gulshan lake, Ward No. 21, Dhaka North City Corporation

1200 Private No intervention

Vawalbagh (Nakhalpara) Rail line Slum

Tejgaon Industrial Area, Ward No. 24, Dhaka North City Corporation

300 Govt. (Railway)

No intervention

Boro Mogbazar 12 No. Peyarabagh Slum

Boro Magbazar, Ward no. 35, , Dhaka North City Corporation

350 Govt.(Railway)

6-7 years back (by DSK)

Vashantech 1 No. Slum

Vashantech, Dhaka Cantonment, Ward no. 15, Dhaka North City Corporation

3600 Govt. Ongoing intervention (IPD, DSK, Water for Life and UPPRP); DCC

Approach and Methodology

• Meetings and field visits• Document review• Survey (with support from DSK)• Focus group discussion• Data analysis and interpretation

Sample Size and respondents’ attributes

• 200 households were interviewed in four slums (i.e. 50 households in each slum)

• The selection was made based on clustered random sampling techniques

• 77% of the respondents were female and the rest 27% were male

• 93% of them were in the age group of 18-65.

Education of the respondents

Illit-erate45%

NFE13%

Class I-V30%

Class VI-VIII6%

SSC4%

HSC or higher2%

Profession of the respondents

Laborer (Industry)Laborer (Transportation)

Handicraft/Small Cottage industryRetired/Aged

DriverLaborer (Garment)

Rickshaw/Van/Cart pullerService

No specific professionUnemployed

Laborer (Construction)Others

Small BusinessmanDomestic service provider

House wife

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

0.50.50.50.5122

3.544.55.15.1

9.120.7

40.9

Slum Overview

Badda (Shahjadpur) Jheelpar Slum(on private land; no intervention yet)

Vawalbagh (Nakhalpara) Rail Line Slum(on railway land; no intervention yet)

Peyarabagh (Boro Moghbazar) Slum(on railway land; past intervention)

Vashantech Slum(on Govt. land; ongoing intervention)

Results

Socio-economic• 81% household-heads

are male (81%) and 21% are female

• Average size of the households is 4.62

• Around 8% of the families have a person with disabilities

• Among the disabled people 48% are male 32% are female and rest are children under age of 18.

34%

36%

30%

Composition of Families

Male Female Children

Socio-economic

• Around 79% of the surveyed households are living in the corresponding slum for more than 6 years

• 57% are tenants and 42% built their houses at their own cost

• 97% of the HHs have electricity in their house; 14% of tenants do not pay electricity bill separately

• Monthly payment for electricity varies from less than taka 200 to over 1000; 45% pay between 200-400 per month.

Total monthly income and savings (taka) of families

<5000 5000-10000 10001-15000 15001-20000 20000+0%

10%20%30%40%50%60%

2%

49%

38%

10%2%

Income

No Sav-ing

<500 500-1000

1001-2000

2001-3000

3001-4000

4001-5000

5000+0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

69

%

1% 9

%

7%

5%

5%

5%

1%

Savings

Water Supply

National Context: WS Improvement Trend (JMP 2013)

199019952000200520102011

5%10%

71%

73%

21%16%

3%

National

199019952000200520102011

24%31%

63%54%

13% 14%

0%

Urban

1990199520002005201020110% 1%

74%81%

22%16%

4% 2%

Rural

• Slum dwellers have access to water supply; WASA connection, legal or illegal, accounts for majority of water supply.

• Daily HH water use varies from less than 100 L to over 400 L; majority reported water use between 100 to 300 L. Slightly higher water use in Peyarabagh and Vashantech Slums

Water Supply

Drinking water supply source

Vashantech

Peyarabagh

Vawalbagh

Badda

47

42

74

92

51

56

10

8

2

2

16

Community based piped water supply (Legal connection-WASA)Illegal piped water supply Connection-WASACommunity based tubewellOther

Role in selection of water supply system

Badda Vawalbagh Peyarabagh Vashantech0%

20%40%60%80%

100%

445

7443

0

0

0

094 0

8

10

2

12

1643

043

2 4

System type

Community people Government organization House ownerNGO other


20%40%60%80%

100%

2

6094

71

0

0

025

960

6 02

0

0 0040

0 4

Site selection


Financial and technical support in installing water point


10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0

45

70

37

0

0

6

0

980

8

10

2

13

16

49

0

42

0 4


• There are significant disparity among slums regarding nature of access.

Water Supply

Badda Slum• Large number of HH (25-30) use the same water point;

one to one and a half hour required for collecting a pitcher of water.

• Significant problem in availability of water; sometimes there is no water or water comes in drops.

• No separate payment for water

Vawalbagh Rail Line Slum

• People buy water from community water points; cost varies from taka 1 to taka 5 per kolshi; Water requirement varies from 10 to 20 Kolshi per day.

• 80% respondents spend over 300 taka per month, and 46% pay over 500 taka per month for water.

• In general, no major problem with availability and quality.

Peyarabagh Slum

• Collect water from tubewells connected to water supply lines; water is always available.

• About 67% respondents spend 200 taka, and 28% spend 200-300 taka per month.

Vashantech Slum• “Water for All” facilitating water supply from DWASA; all

connections given so (about 500) far are metered.

• 73% respondents spend taka 100 to 200, and 23% spend taka 200 to 300 per month for water.

• In general, nor major complaints regarding quantity and quality.

Amount paid by HHs per month for water

<100 100-200 201-300 301-500 501-750 750+0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

11

57

28

2 22

73

23

24

16

3430

16

Badda Vawalbagh Peyarabagh Vashantech

Amount paid by HHs for Watsan interventions

<100 101-200 201-500 500+0

20406080

100

5038

1315

85

Water Supply


Distance of water source

<20 20-50 51-100 101-200 200+

4036

20

4

12

24

38

26

51

36

1314

34

46

6


Distance (feet)

Responsibility of O&M and cleanliness of water source

Badda

Vawalbagh

Peyarabagh

Vashantech

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

74

8.3

10

92

26

53.1

90

6

38.8

2

Users' Caretaker Other

Sanitation

National Context:San. Improvement Trend (JMP

2013)

38%

55%

19%

27%11%

14%32%

4%

National

54% 55%

29% 30%

10%13%

7%2%

Urban

34%

55%

16%

26%

12%

14%

38%

5%

Rural

Sanitation option

Badda

Vawalbagh

Peyarabagh

Vashantech

6

10

2

2

92

74

2

4

4

98

86

20

Sanitary Latrine Cluster latrine Sanitation Block Unhygienic latrine Open place

Distance of toilet from water point

<10 10-30 31-50 51-100 101-200 200+0

10

20

30

40

50

60

24

32

6

30

4

54

38

2

6

22

50

10 108

2

16

31

27

6


Role in selection of latrine


20%40%60%80%

100%

2

6843 40

98

30

4 4

0 2

0 0

0 0

33 44

0 020 12

System type

People of the Community House owner Government organizationNGO Both NGO & community


20%40%60%80%

100%

2

68 7650

98

30 4

4

0 20

0

0 00

4

0 020

42

Site selection

People of the Community House owner Government organizationNGO Both NGO & community

Financial and technical support in installing latrine


10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0

65

6 2

100

31

64

02

2

0

0 0

78

70

0 0 8

24

0 2 0 0

People of the Community House owner Government organizationNGO Both NGO & community other

• Number of HHs using the same toilet is high; up to 50 for Vashantech slum and as high as 300 for the other three slums.

• Major disparity among Slums.

Sanitation

Badda Slum• Almost all latrines are unhygienic; some children

practice open defecation (FGD)

• House owner not interested to install sanitary latrine; slum people not permitted to construct latrine.

• Very unhealthy environment

Vawalbagh Slum• High prevalence (20%) of open defecation.

• Almost all latrines are unhygienic.

• People living on the eastern side of rain line have to cross the rail line for accessing toilet.

• Incidences of children falling into toilet were reported.

• Financial difficulties and temporary nature of settlement reported as reasons for not having better toilets.

Peyarabagh Slum

• Many of the toilets constructed during past intervention by DSK are still working satisfactorily.

• Sometimes queue is seen in front of the toilets in the morning.

Vashantech Slum

• 37 latrines installed under DSK intervention.

• Many of the latrines constructed under earlier “support” are not functioning properly, and have become unhygienic.

Amount paid by HHs per month for using latrine

<30 30-60 61-120 121-150 150+0

10

20

30

40

50

60

7

56

9

23

5

Badda Vawalbagh Peyarabagh

Amount paid by HHs for installing latrines

<50 50-100 101-200 201-5000

20406080

100 90

5 53 5 6 14

Latrine


Responsibility of O&M and cleanliness of latrines

Badda

Vawalbagh

Peyarabagh

Vashantech

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

56

80

8

98

20

2

92

2

6

18

User household Caretaker Other

Emptying of sludge from pit/septic tank

Clean manual ly (Sweeper) Use mechanica l equipment Have no idea

11

89

42.5 57.5

39 5

4

7

100

Emptying Mechanism


83

17

65352

8 47

25

25

.5

8

25

.5

41

Sludge Dumping Scenario


Emptying of sludge from pit/septic tank

• In Vashantech Slum (where intervention in ongoing), 61% respondents want environment-friendly pit emptying service (Vacutag), and they are willing to pay for it. However, Vacutag will not reach all areas within slum.

• However, in the other slums, most of the respondents (74%) did not feel the necessity for such service, and they are not willing to pay for it.

Gender Aspect• In Vashantech slum, 71% respondent reported having

separate toiles for women and girls; for other 3 slums, only 15% reported of such facilities.

• 16% respondents in Vashantech slum reported that the toilet location is inconvenient for women and girl.

• For the other three slums, 77% respondents reported that the toilet location is inconvenient for easy access of women and girl, especially during night.

• In Vashantech slum, 98% respondents, and in other 3 slums 80% respondents reported disposing children feces in latrines.

• Lack of suitable sanitation facilities for disabled people in all slums; slightly better condition in Vashantech slum.

Hygiene

Hygiene behavior

Yes No Seldom0

20406080

100 90

10

71

18 10

84

214

100

Hand washing practice hands be-fore taking meal

Badda VawalbaghPeyarabagh Vashantech

Yes No Seldom0

20406080

100 90

10

70

228

85

8 6

98

2

Hand washing practice hands after defecation


Yes No Seldom0

20406080

100 88

8 4

71

217

89

2 9

98

2

Hand washing practice before feed-ing children


Yes No Seldom0

20406080

100 89

2 9

64

2511

82

9 9

98

2

Hand washing practice after child’s anal cleansing


Materials used for hand washing

Only water Soap Ash Soil No fixed items

17

50

42

27

37

27

4

10

2222

67

11

6

78

10

2 2


Difficulties faced on menstrual hygiene management

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

11.5

26.9

3.8

30.8

23.1

3.8

36

24 24

16

36

20

16

24

4

44.4 44.4

11.1


Other Issues

Solid Waste Management

• In the non-intervened slums 68% respondents and in the intervened slum 96% respondents could not recognize existence of any systematic approach (such as composting or van collection) for solid waste management (SWM)

• Overall about 20% respondents participated in campaigns or awareness raising sessions on SWM.

• Those who participated in some sort of SWM practices also agreed that the overall environmental situation of the slum has been improved due to such interventions

Household wastewater drainage

Drain Lake Tube-wel l Platform

Rai l l ine Bottom of hanging

slum

Pipe network Others

74

24

2

71.4

10.2 1

6.3

2

74

12

6

2

6

92

6

2


Inadequate drainage is a major problem at Vashantech slum, as well as other slums

Fuelwood, Fire Hazard and Air Pollution

• 61% respondents in Vashantech slum and 7% in other 3 slums reported that their communities have fire-fighting preparedness.

• Majority reported that fire-fighting vehicles will not be able to enter into the slum.

• Fire outbreaks have been reported in Vashantech slum, which are usually taken care of slum people themselves.

• High price and availability of fuelwood are important concerns.

• Air pollution not reported as a major problem

Fire Hazard and Air Pollution

Major Observations/

Recommendations

Observations• WASH challenges vary significantly among slums.• Past and ongoing interventions have significant

positive impacts.• Active community participation promotes

sustainability. • Despite good access to water supply, there is

significant scope for improvement (e.g., • Sanitation services are in poor state, especially in

non-intervened slums.• Sustainability of sanitation services is an important

issue; technology and management both affect sustainability.

• Special considerations needed for women/girl (e.g., w.r.t. location of toilet) and people with disability.

Observations• Hygiene practice, especially hand washing,

appears to be a concern.

• Fecal sludge management (FSM) services should be included in future interventions.

• Drainage is a major problem, and should be addressed along with water supply and sanitation.

• Fire hazard, fuel wood, and indoor air pollution should be addressed in future interventions.

Strategies for Urban SlumsStrategies for Immediate Solutions

Community water points and sanitation blocks to be built and maintained by CBOs with assistance from NGOs and in collaboration with urban utilities

Development Decision and Ownership

The Communities through CBOs, Wards of Municipalities/ City Corporations

Design and Implementation

CBOs, WASAs/ CCs, DPHE, Paurashavas, LGED and NGOs

Thank You

Government & Nonprofit

WASH Challenges in Slum Areas of Dhaka City- Presented by Dr. M. Ashraf Ali Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, BUET & Director, ITN-BUET