Documentary · 2026-11-02 · 4 min

Clean water in the Chittagong Hill Tracts

Ten 50,000-litre water towers built by TİKA bring clean water to hill communities. How we filmed the project.

In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, water is often the hardest thing to get. Villages sit on hilltops while springs and streams are far below, and in the dry season many families, usually women and children, spend hours every day carrying water up the slopes.

TİKA built ten water towers, each holding 50,000 litres, to bring clean water closer to these communities. We made a documentary about the project for TİKA.

A project film like this has two jobs. It has to show what was built, clearly enough for engineers and donors, and it has to show why it matters to the people who use it. We filmed the towers and pipelines with a drone and gimbal shots, and spent most of our time with families: a mother who no longer walks to the stream before dawn, children who have more time for school, a village committee that looks after the system.

The hills set the schedule. Roads are narrow, some sites can only be reached on foot, and the weather changes quickly. Careful planning with the local project team meant we could film several sites in a short time without missing the important moments.

Water projects are easy to describe in numbers, litres and towers. A film lets people see the change in a single morning of a single family, and that is often what convinces the next partner to support the work.

Watch the film on our YouTube channel or on the documentary page of this website.