More than 20,000 of the 60,000-plus villages in Myanmar do not yet enjoy sufficient drinking water.
Children carrying water at Paypin Kone village in Chauk Township, Magway Region. (Photo-Aung Zaw Tun/EMG)
“There are more than 20,000 villages that can’t enjoy enough drinking water. That’s why we are now carrying out a project to supply sufficient drinking water and submitting a budget proposal to the government. Most of the villages face a scarcity of drinking water. In arid zones, the water can be acquired after digging a well deeply enough. But the villagers can’t dig deep wells,” said Myint Oo, Deputy Director-General of Rural Area Development department.
Most villages in the arid zone suffer from a drinking water shortage every summer.
“We used to have to go about a mile and a half’s distance to get the water. Then, we had to pay at least Ks 11,000 [nearly US$ 10] per barrel to enjoy it,” he said. “But last year the authorities dug wells in our village. Thanks to the government, we have been getting sufficient drinking water. There are many villages in Chauk Township, Magway Region, central Myanmar, that still do not enjoy enough drinking water. The villagers face water shortages in the summer.”
“We bought drinking water in the late summer season. The lake in our village could not store water because the lake was muddy.”
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