Bangladesh capital Dhaka is the fastest growing megacity in Asia, with a population expected to reach 16 million by 2010. At present, over three million of its population live in squalid slums. Most are considered illegal squatters who have no access to city water or sanitation services. Part of ADB’s Water Voices Documentary series, Breaking Barriers features how one solution gaining momentum is for poor communities to manage communal water points themselves with assistance from a local non-government organization (NGO) and highlights a Bangladesh NGO's pioneering scheme to bring clean water to Dhaka's slum communities.

Keywords
Asia and the Pacific; Bangladesh; Dhaka; megacity Asia; urban population; overpopulation; congestion; urban social development; slums; illegal squatters; poverty; access to water, sanitation, health service; ADB Water Voices Documentary series; Breaking Barriers; poor communities; communal water

Topic: Water

Series: Water For All Documentary

Publication Type: DVD and CD-ROM

Publication Date: December 2003