<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Md Tajul Islam said the government has installed a total of 16,13,200 safe drinking water sources to ensure safe drinking water in the country.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>"The government has undertaken various projects during the last 14 years to ensure sanitation and healthy water for the development of the rural infrastructure," he told the Jatiya Sangsad while replying to a question from treasury bench member Md Mamunur Rashid Kiron.</div><div><br></div><div>The Minister said the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) under the ministry has taken various initiatives to supply safe water and provide sanitation facilities to the rural areas.</div><div><br></div><div>The initiatives are; installation of 16,47,000 water sources, 631 rural piped water scheme, 10,753 community based water supply units, 18,974 mini rural piped water scheme and digging of 95 ponds and 1,008 re-digging of ponds, he said.</div><div><br></div><div>Besides, the department has been building of 2,44,500 rain water harvesters, 19,43,000 latrine/improved latrine and 2,817 public/community latrine as part of the initiatives, Tajul added.</div><div><br></div><div>"Out of the initiatives, the government has successfully installed 16,13,200 safe drinking water sources, 110 rural piped water scheme, 865 community based water supply units and 15,610 mini rural piped water scheme to ensure water supply in the country," he said.</div><div><br></div><div>The minister, however, said the DPHE has already been dug 95 ponds and re-dug 878 ponds, installed 37,656 rain water harvesters and distributed 7,94,000 sanitary latrine sets, of which 2,343 developed public/community latrine. - BSS</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>