What will you feel if you go to have a shower, turn it on, and insects come out with water and fall on your body. This is exactly what happened to me yesterday. So dirty water, with all those little black insects, makes me dizzy. How is it possible to use water like this!”

A resident of Notun Bazar in Kalyanpur, Kakoli Khan, shared the incident through a post in a Facebook group on Wednesday. He expressed anger over the sufferings. Such incidents are quite common as residents of the neighbourhood are frequently making similar posts in the social media group.

The same complaint came from some other areas of the capital, including Tejgaon, Malibagh, Moghbazar, Madhubagh, Basabo, and Maniknagar. The presence of insects in water supplied by the WASA has been almost a common scenario.

Residents of concerned localities alleged that when the WASA authorities are contacted over the predicament, they limit themselves in providing some routine advice like cleaning water tanks. Many have done so, yet the problem persists. Then, the WASA officials instructed the residents to use a piece of cloth to filter water.

However, the WASA authorities claimed that their officials carried out tests in water of the concerned areas, but found no insects. They insisted that the insects might have grown in the underground water reservoirs and the roof tanks, and that cleaning those will solve the problem.

Insects in water for over a month

There are 27 houses in the Masjid Lane area adjacent to the road no. 1 of Kalyanpur. This correspondent spoke to residents, guards, and caretakers of 15 houses, and they all confirmed the presence of insects in supplied water for at least the past month and a half.

Molla Golam Azam, a resident of 15/7-8 Masjid Lane, said, “On a fine morning in early March, I noticed insects in the water. Since then, insects have been coming with water almost daily. When reported, the WASA instructed to clean the water tank. Both tanks – the reservoir and roof tank – of the house were cleaned on 29 March, but insects are still seen coming.”

Mohammad Jahangir, caretaker of 15/3-B, said, “I called the number on the WASA bill to report the issue of insects. They told me to tie the edge of the pipe with a thin cotton cloth. We have done it and are using water after filtering.”

Insects are not limited to area. Residents of roads no. 1, 2, 9, 10, and 11 in Kalyanpur have also reported reddish insects in their water over the last one and a half months.

When asked about the issue, WASA deputy managing director (operation and maintenance) AKM Shahid Uddin reiterated that the problem stemmed from unclean tanks within the households. The problem will be solved if those are cleaned up.

However, multiple WASA officials admitted that insects are coming out with water in some areas across the capital. They noted that water supplied from the Sayedabad water treatment plant contains insects. They are looking into the plant if there are any issues.