RAJSHAHI: Ensuring safe drinking water, sanitation, housing and education to the slum dwellers can be the vital means of improving their living and livelihood condition, reports BSS. Disadvantaged and underprivileged populations in the urban areas face various water and airborne diseases as they suffer a lot due to constraints of safe drinking water and sanitation. So, city corporation and non-government entities concerned should come forward and work together to address the problem.

The views were expressed at a pre-budget discussion by some speakers who urged the authorities concerned to keep for special allocation for the population in the annual budget and international donor agencies to extend their furthermore cooperation in this field.

BRAC and its Urban Development Programme (UDP) hosted the meeting at conference hall of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) here yesterday afternoon discussing ways and means on how to fulfill the basic needs of the slum populations.

UDP’s programme of Engaging Multi-Sectoral Partners for creating Opportunities, improving Wellbeing and Realising rights of the urban poor (EMPOWER) supported the meeting.

RCC Mayor Musaddeque Hossain Bulbul, Panel Mayors Anwarul Amin and Nuruzzaman Tito, Ward Councilor Abdul Hamid Sarker, Executive Engineer Nur Islam and BRAC District Representative Jahedul Islam addressed the meeting as resource persons.