Not only urban wards in those townships but also rural villages are grappling with serious drinking water shortages.

An elderly person fainted and died amid high temperatures in Arakan State’s Mrauk-U Township on Saturday morning, according to family members.

Junta spokesman Major-General Zaw Min Tun said the regime still can’t increase the pay for civil servants due to financial constraints.

Groundnut growers in Arakan State say their profits are down due to high agricultural expenditures this year, despite the fact that the nuts are fetching good prices.

Seven signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) have condemned junta airstrikes on Pazigyi Village in Sagaing Region’s Kanbalu Township on April 11, which killed more than 180 people.

The junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) has begun scrutinising political parties that have registered for the junta’s planned election to determine if they are in line with the new Political Parties Registration Law.

Clams appear to be dying en masse in Ann Township, Arakan State, with the dead mollusks reported on the shores of rivers and creeks in the area, according to residents.

Dozens of undocumented Muslims and human traffickers were reportedly arrested by the Myanmar Navy off the coast of Ngapudaw Township, Ayeyarwady Region.

The Department of Fisheries issued a warning on April 19 prohibiting the catching of large freshwater shrimp during the rainy season, covering April, May and June.

The plaintiff in the case against two village administrators from Buthidaung Township under Section 17(1) of Unlawful Association has failed to appear at court hearings for nearly five months, according to family members of the accused.

The Department of Rural Development (DRD) has yet to implement a plan to build free homes in some Sittwe Township villages for poor people affected by natural disasters and facing financial difficulties.

Muslim internally displaced people (IDPs) from the Kyauktalone IDP camp in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township will be relocated to a new encampment starting on April 23, according to camp officials.

The Arakan State military council has guaranteed that there won’t be water shortages in Sittwe, which faces water shortages annually during the hot season, but residents said they still have to buy water due to the inadequacy of the piped supply. 

Though junta boss Min Aung Hlaing last year promised K10 billion worth of loans from a national economic development fund for Arakan State business owners, more than four months later the loans have yet to be disbursed.

Disability rights activists say that people with disabilities are facing difficulties in travelling from one place to another because there are no special services.

Thai authorities announced on Wednesday evening that Myanmar citizens legally living in Mae Sot, Tak District, Thailand, should not accept people displaced by fighting, according to Myanmar residents of the border town.

The Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH) has announced that temperature averages may rise across central Myanmar as well as in some peripheral states during the coming hot season.

As of April 10, more than 1.8 million people remained displaced across Myanmar, according to an April 19 report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

The Brotherhood Alliance — a tripartite military coalition consisting of the Arakan Army (AA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) — has affirmed their belief that the United Wa State Party (UWSP) will continue to contribute to the revolutionary cause in Myanmar.