Textiles, packaging and paper mill industries, have been caught withdrawing large amounts ground water without a license in Bangladesh. The ground water depletion has impacted 98% of the population’s drinking water. Around 30,000 residents from four villages in Potia upazilla, Chattogram have been suffering from the ground water crisis.
In 2015, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) filed a writ petition on behalf of the communities. After a long legal battle, lead by BELA, in 2019 the high court of Bangladesh decided restricted the extraction of ground water from the four villages in Chattogram, which will ensure an uninterrupted supply of drinking water to the impacted communities. This is the first legal action in Bangladesh to mark any area as ‘water crisis-prone’ area under the Water Act 2013.
This is an incredible campaign win for BELA and for the people of Chattogram. Congratulations to everyone who was involved in the struggle!
For more information contact:
Rehmuna Nurain, Research Associate
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA)
Email: rehmuna1979@gmail.com
To keep up to date with BELA’s work follow Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association-BELA Facebook page.