Arakan CSOs offer suggestions and helping hands to tackle seasonal water scarcity 

By DMG 31 Mar 2021

DMG Newsroom
31 March 2021, Sittwe  

Civil society organisations in Arakan State are stepping up to help address chronic seasonal water shortages amid a sense that the state government has proved unable or unwilling to tackle the issue.  

Ko Ann Thar Gyi, chair of Thingaha Kanlat Rakhita charity group, said supplying more water from rivers and dams could help tackle the water scarcity issues that arise each summer. 

“Arakan State should not be a place suffering water shortages because there are freshwater rivers in the state. So, water from the rivers can be widely supplied to residents. Private companies or the government can undertake the water supply process and people will not face water shortages in summer,” he said. 

Some Arakan State townships face summertime water scarcity because tube wells cannot be dug due to the regional topography. 

U Zaw Zaw Tun, secretary of the Rakhine Ethnics Congress (REC), said 77% of people from IDP camps in Arakan State face water shortages. He noted that drinking unclean water — often out of necessity, among displaced populations — affects the health of elderly people and children in particular. 

“There are many things we can do to prevent water scarcity in summer,” he added. “We can keep rainwater by digging many lakes. Kyein Chaung and Zee Chaung reservoirs are used for agriculture. Pipelines should be connected from these reservoirs for drinking water.”  

Khaing Min Shin, chair of the Mrauk-U Youths Association, said MUYA is carrying water from Mrauk-U town to Tin Nyo IDP camp by car at the moment because many IDPs there are facing lack of both food and water after their shelters were burnt down in a fire on March 17.

U Soe Naing, manager of Tin Nyo IDP camp, said: “We connected a pipeline from the creek to the lake in the camp for household use. The water from the creek is not potable. They have to depend on donors for drinking water.” 

DMG attempts to seek comment from the Department of Rural Development in Arakan State regarding its handling of chronic water shortages were unsuccessful.  

U Zaw Zaw Tun of the REC said the military-run Arakan State Administration Council needs to instruct relevant departments to enact measures addressing summer water scarcity while CSOs are helping to lessen the water crisis in the short term. 

For the time being, Fire Services Departments in several townships are providing water to the affected areas. But CSOs say it is not sufficient, and that relevant departments need to tackle the problem more effectively.