This report provides a cursory overview or snap-shot of the institutional and governance challenges that subsist and in many aspects have, arguably, deteriorated in the Department of Water and Sanitation.

Arsenic contamination in shallow groundwater aquifers remains a major barrier to providing access to safe drinking water in Bangladesh. Chronic exposure to arsenic has been shown to cause serious health impacts, including various cancers, skin lesions, neurological damage, heart disease, and hypertension.

About 76 percent of rural habitations in India have achieved a fully covered (FC) status, under the National Rural Drinking Water Program, with basic minimum service level of 40 liters per capita daily (lpcd), but this coverage is primarily through hand-pumps and does not necessarily translate into sustainable and good quality service delivery.