Rangpur, Sept. 14 -- Around 15,000 residents of Pirganj Municipality in Rangpur are enduring severe hardship after their clean water supply was cut off following the breakdown of three pumps installed under a Tk 20-crore project.

The pumps, set up by the Department of Public Health Engineering as part of its Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation System Improvement initiative during the 2021-22 fiscal year, stopped working some 15 days ago. Since then, households have been left without access to safe water for drinking, cooking and other daily needs.

Many families have been forced to purchase bottled water, spending Tk 50-60 a day, an amount that is especially burdensome for low-income earners. Those unable to afford bottled supplies...