Water Use and Pollution Recognition from the Viewpoint of Local Residents in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Kazi Akter,Keisuke Hanaki,Kiyo Kurisu

doi:10.3390/w9050331

Abstract

This study focuses on urban and rural house dwellers’ opinions about their own as well as commercial, industrial and agricultural water use and pollution issues in Dhaka, Bangladesh. One hundred respondents were asked to make comparative choices on five water use sectors arranged in pairs, about five water issues regarding water shortage, earning money, damage due to water shortage, water pollution and water loss during use. To analyze the homogeneities and variations in perceptions, the respondents were categorized into five clusters (P1–P5), based on the view of comparative importance of each sector, where clusters P1–P3 consisted of mostly urban respondents, while P4–P5 were of rural respondents. Clusters P1 and P5 thought of industries as the most responsible sector for water issues, whereas P2 and P3 clusters thought urban dwellers are more responsible for all water issues, except earning money. The respondents were asked also about their water spending and saving attitudes along with their concern regarding water issues. Two factors regarding water attitude and water issue concern were derived from factor analysis using the water attitude questions. Five clusters showed variations in water attitudes and concerns among them. Some clusters’ perceptions about sectoral water issues were found to be influenced by their positive attitudes and concerns. Residential peoples’ perception regarding sectoral water use might be useful for policy makers to identify the target groups (urban or/and rural water users) for management intervention.

Highlights

Water management involves addressing demand management rather than reliance on finding new water sources, re-emphasizing water services to meet basic human needs and incorporating ecological water use into water policy [1]
Water 2017, 9, 331 planners deal with water policies and water management plans for a water society, but the nature of vulnerability and adaptation mechanisms towards water issues are mostly determined by local parameters [8,9]
This study aimed to address residential water users’ perceptions of and opinions on the water sectors, regarding: themselves, the water issues related to water shortage, pollution, water loss, damage due to water shortage and money earning issues in Dhaka

Summary

Introduction

Water management involves addressing demand management rather than reliance on finding new water sources, re-emphasizing water services to meet basic human needs and incorporating ecological water use into water policy [1]. Recognizing the importance of multi-disciplinary knowledge for making sustainable decisions regarding the water sectors, the Dublin Conference on Water and Environment (1992) addressed the importance of integrated water resources management (IWRM) for the first time and advocated the use of participatory approaches as one of the important principles of IWRM [2,3,4]. Local communities and their local knowledge are still ignored by planners in many cases of developing and managing land use and water resources [6,7]. The experiences and knowledge of local people can help to resolve local water issues

Objectives

Results

Conclusion