ABSTRACT
Bangladesh relies intensely on groundwater for rural and urban water supply and achieved remarkable success in providing access to safe water to 97% of the population. Increased irrigation coverage with groundwater contributing for more than 70% made the country safe reliant in rice production, the staple food the 130 million people. The exponential increase in groundwater exploitation has been prompted by easy availability and low cost technologies. The detection of arsenic above admissible limits in shallow groundwater of Bangladesh has emerged as a severe environmental hazard and the use of groundwater both for drinking and irrigation purposes being questioned. Groundwater management is in poor state despite large dependence on groundwater. The theme of this paper is management of groundwater for safe and sustainable use, mainly for drinking purposes as it warrants the top priority among all uses.
