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For years, residents of remote areas in Bandarban had to climb down steep hill paths to collect water from streams and springs, with women and children bearing much of the burden. The hardship became worse during the dry season.
The situation is gradually changing as a Tk45-crore project has brought safe drinking water and improved sanitation facilities to 85 remote neighbourhoods across all seven upazilas and two municipalities of the district.
Implemented by the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) under the supervision of the Bandarban Hill District Council, the project uses different technologies, including gravity flow systems (GFS), rainwater harvesting systems, deep tube wells and ring wells.
According to the Bandarban DPHE, the project covered the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years. It included repairing 12 existing GFS facilities and installing 10 new ones, 583 ring wells, 140 rainwater harvesting systems and 85 deep tube wells.
The project also installed 85 production tube wells to provide community-based water supplies and constructed 30 hygienic toilets in different areas.
The new facilities have significantly reduced the distance residents need to travel for water.
Jasim Uddin and Kanak Chakma, residents of Meghla in Bandarban, said they previously had to travel long distances to collect water but can now obtain water for daily household use from deep tube wells installed by the DPHE.
Sufia Khatun of Longa Road said residents previously collected muddy water from a nearby hill stream but now have access to water close to their homes.
Angbai Marma, headman of TNT Para, said thousands of people from several neighbourhoods once depended on a distant, polluted stream as their only water source. The installation of a deep tube well has now provided them with safe drinking water within the community.
Anupam Dey, executive engineer of Bandarban DPHE, said the project was undertaken to ensure safe water supplies in remote hill areas where geographical and environmental conditions require different technologies.
“Different technologies have to be used to supply safe drinking water in remote areas because of Bandarban’s diverse geography and natural conditions,” he said.
He said the project had repaired existing GFS facilities and installed new GFS, ring wells, rainwater harvesting systems, deep tube wells and community-based water supply systems at a cost of Tk45 crore.
In areas where deep tube wells were not feasible, alternative technologies were used to ensure water supplies, he said.
Although plastering and painting work at some facilities remained incomplete due to prolonged rain and flooding, the main activities under the project had already been completed, Dey said.
Local residents said the project has not only improved public health but also enhanced the image of Bandarban, a major tourism destination. They stressed the need for regular maintenance of the water facilities to ensure that the benefits continue in the remote hill communities.
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