Photo Essay: Sittwe’s Kandawgyi Lake drying up

By DMG 29 Nov 2022

DMG Newsroom
29 November 2022, Sittwe 

Kandawgyi Lake, a major source of water supply for the Arakan State capital Sittwe, is drying up as 2022 comes to a close, and the lake is expected to be functionally devoid of water during the coming hot season, according to local residents. Kandawgyi Lake consists of seven distinct bodies of water, and the collective supplying Sittwe has almost dried up.

“The water supply will not be enough for the dry season,” said a staffer from the municipal water supply authority. “The major lake supplying the whole town has almost dried up. Water from other lakes is being pumped [to supply the town]. Under such circumstances, water will be supplied on alternating days [to residents during the dry season]. I’m afraid people will have to rely on artesian wells this year.”

Other lakes around Sittwe are also drying up due to low rainfall totals this year, said another resident.

 “The rainfall was low in the rainy season. At this time last year, the lake was full. But there is only a little water this year. So, water has to be piped in from the other lakes to this [major] lake,” he said.

Sittwe faces water shortages annually, and town residents can’t realistically tap groundwater sources because artesian wells fail to produce water in most cases.

Members of the Arakan State Administration Council (ASAC) visited Sittwe’s Kandawgyi Lake on November 26, according to ASAC spokesman U Hla Thein. 

“Kandawgyi Lake has little water. We made a field trip to find out what to do to ensure that the lake does not run dry in the hot season, and to make preparations for next year,” U Hla Thein wrote on his Facebook page.