Facing annual river erosion, Minbya residents want preventive solutions

By DMG 02 Apr 2021

DMG Newsroom
2 April 2021, Minbya 

Minbya residents have called for effective measures to prevent the Lemro River from eroding away parts of the riverside town, as bits and pieces of land and property are carried downstream each year. 

The course of the river was diverted in 1968, when a double-decker boat capsized near the town. Since then, Minbya has faced riverbank erosion every year during the rainy season for more than five decades, affecting a total of 15 residential wards, according to local residents. 

“We have built a lot of retaining walls, but most of them have collapsed. My house was swept away last year. I would like to urge the government to take effective measures,” said Minbya resident Daw Moe Moe Zan. 

Riverbank erosion has affected not only households but also businesses, she added. 

The erosion occurs at least three to four times every rainy season in Minbya, said fellow resident U San Shwe Maung. 

“It is likely that parts of Shwe Pyi Tan jetty will be eroded away this year. Erosion is already taking place there,” he told DMG. 

The Minbya Township Development Committee has not received an annual budget to prevent riverbank erosion, and has never been allocated sufficient funds to take effective preventive measures, according to committee chairman U Kyaw Min Khaing. 

“Though the authorities have [occasionally] granted a budget, it has never been an amount that can cover the whole riverbank. Again, they haven’t granted a budget every year, so the problem has never been solved. But we are now implementing a project to divert the course of the river. After it is complete, we will be able to largely reduce erosion,” said U Kyaw Min Khaing. 

Implementation of that project began in February of last year. 

Elsewhere in Arakan State, Apaukwa village in Kyauktaw village has been perennially ravaged by erosion from the Kaladan River. 

The Arakan State Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems has declined to answer DMG’s question about its plans to prevent riverbank erosion in Arakan State.