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Over-extraction of groundwater was already an issue earlier than the coup however consultants say it’s more likely to worsen within the years forward as a result of stalled insurance policies and legal guidelines, and lack of funding in much-needed infrastructure.
By FRONTIER
It didn’t take Ko Myo Swe Tun* lengthy to grasp his new condominium in Yangon’s Thaketa Township had a water downside. The corroded metallic pipes and fixtures in his lavatory and kitchen have been a lifeless giveaway.
When the six-storey constructing was in-built 2017, the land proprietor sunk a two-inch-wide tube properly that reaches nearly 244 metres (about 800 toes) down into the earth to offer groundwater for residents.
Nearly instantly, although, saltwater started seeping into the groundwater, rusting the pipes and corroding the whole lot it touches. When Myo Swe Tun purchased his condominium in September 2021, he didn’t realise that the opposite residents have been shopping for water not solely to drink, but additionally to scrub their garments and to bathe in.
Shortly after Myo Swe Tun moved in, residents determined to connect with the Yangon Metropolis Improvement Committee water provide as an alternative. “There was no means we may maintain utilizing groundwater from our tube properly – it was simply too salty,” he instructed Frontier.
Every resident paid round K200,000 (about US$100) for his or her connection, he mentioned.
They’re removed from alone. Many condominium buildings and houses, notably exterior Yangon’s interior suburbs, use groundwater for on a regular basis water wants and purchase 20-litre barrels of purified ingesting water. In some areas, that is to keep away from the price of a YCDC connection and ongoing costs, however generally it’s as a result of the municipal provide is solely not out there.
As extra individuals join, the extent and high quality of Yangon’s groundwater has began to say no quickly. Many are discovering that their once-clean groundwater has develop into contaminated as a result of saltwater intrusion.
“On our avenue alone, three different condominium buildings have related to the YCDC provide water lately as a result of their tube wells have had an inflow of saltwater,” Myo Swe Tun mentioned.
Water useful resource consultants are warning that the unregulated use of tube wells and overextraction of groundwater are making it tougher for town’s residents to entry a secure water provide.
U Myint Thein is a groundwater marketing consultant and former adviser to the Nationwide Water Assets Committee from 2016 to 2020. He has nearly 40 years of expertise in each the federal government and non-government sectors engaged on water-related points, and has studied Yangon’s water provide extensively.
“Saltwater intrusion worsens 12 months by 12 months due to over-extraction of groundwater and failure of Yangon authorities to regulate public groundwater extraction in Yangon since 1990 – that’s, way more water is taken out than the pure recharge,” he instructed Frontier.
Estuarial areas resembling Yangon, the place river ranges and flows are influenced by the tides, are notably inclined. Saltwater is often stored at bay in an estuarial surroundings by freshwater outflows beneath the bottom, in what is called a zone of dispersion. When groundwater is over-extracted, whether or not for human consumption or agriculture, the circulation of freshwater in direction of the tidal river or rivers declines. This could trigger saltwater to be drawn into freshwater zone, resulting in saltwater intrusion.
Myint Thein mentioned this phenomenon was properly understood and occurred in lots of areas around the globe, however Yangon’s municipal officers had proven little concern regardless of the warning indicators.
“The authorities aren’t concerned about administrating the groundwater provide for members of the general public. They haven’t accomplished something to regulate groundwater use.”
Interviews with nearly 20 water useful resource consultants, personal tube properly drilling corporations and Yangon residents confirmed that groundwater extraction is sort of fully unregulated. YCDC exerts little management over particular person properly use, neglecting to both examine or regulate groundwater extraction.
U Kyaw Oo, a member of an advisory group to the Nationwide Water Assets Committee, mentioned Yangon’s rising city sprawl was placing pressure on an underprepared system. The one answer, he mentioned, was to put money into higher infrastructure, together with further reservoirs to the north of town.
“Yangon’s inhabitants continues to be rising, and so is water consumption. It should undoubtedly develop into a much bigger downside sooner or later – the authorities shouldn’t enable any new wells to be sunk into the groundwater,” he mentioned.
Uncontrolled
In December 2020, YCDC’s City Planning Division estimated that per capita consumption in Yangon ranged from 15 gallons (57 litres) a day for a low-income resident to 30 gallons (114 litres) a day for a high-income resident. To fulfill this demand, YCDC provides water from 4 reservoirs and 645 tube wells that it operates. The water drawn from these sources is meant to cowl 50pc of Yangon’s inhabitants of 5.2 million individuals, however an inside YCDC doc issued in April 2016 and bought by Frontier confirmed that in apply it distributes water to simply 30pc of households. That is attributed to previous pipes, lack of infrastructure and water wastage.
The remainder of town’s inhabitants, it appears, have little selection however to depend on groundwater. That is mirrored in a case research Myint Thein launched earlier this 12 months, during which he estimated that just about 60pc of Yangon residents depend on groundwater for his or her day by day wants. In a metropolis of greater than 5 million individuals, that equates to as many as 250,000 personal tube wells and plenty of million gallons being taken out of the groundwater day by day.
The authorities are properly conscious of the issue. In 2020, YCDC launched its personal groundwater stock survey charting the typical decline in groundwater ranges throughout 27 of the 33 townships in city Yangon between 1992 and 2018.
Mayangone and Mingaladon have been proven to have the bottom groundwater degree among the many 27 townships, plummeting from 25 and 28 toes beneath floor, respectively, in 1992 to 45 toes in 2018. Nevertheless, another townships had seen comparable total declines, together with East Dagon, the place groundwater degree fell on common from 12 toes to 40 toes over the identical interval.
Myint Thein mentioned the massive declines have been as a result of each inhabitants and industrial development. Some factories function tube wells 10 inches in diameter that are discharging greater than 200,000 gallons every day, he claimed.
One indication of saltwater intrusion is chloride ranges. The survey discovered that 12 townships – principally in downtown and alongside the Bago and Hlaing rivers, each of that are tidal – had chloride ranges that exceeded World Well being Group requirements for ingesting water, and in some townships the samples have been greater than thrice increased than the WHO’s beneficial most.
Because of the decline in groundwater high quality, wells are being sunk deeper than ever earlier than. Myint Thein gave the instance of a property within the Thamine space of Mayangone the place a properly had been sunk to 100 toes in 1995, when the water degree was about 10 toes beneath the floor. On the time, there have been few wells on the street; now it has dozens
The scenario now could be nearly unrecognisable. In Might this 12 months, Frontier interviewed 10 personal tube properly drilling corporations in Yangon Area to seek out out about common groundwater ranges. The businesses instructed Frontier that the shortest depth they drill to is round 300 toes, with the deepest wells stretching down so far as 700 toes. All agreed that groundwater ranges have been declining 12 months on 12 months.
“Resulting from YCDC not having the ability to provide sufficient water, the numbers of tube wells being drilled have elevated on final 12 months,” mentioned U Aung Myint from Aung’s Household, a personal agency based mostly in East Dagon Township that installs greater than 20 tube wells every month.
Kyaw Oo, the Nationwide Water Assets Committee advisory group member, mentioned local weather change would doubtless exacerbate the present challenges, and with out new funding Yangon may discover itself going through a “water disaster”.
YCDC’s Engineering Division (Water and Sanitation) didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Hope runs dry
The issue is barely more likely to worsen underneath Senior Basic Min Aung Hlaing’s army junta, which seized energy in February 2021.
The earlier Union Solidarity and Improvement Social gathering and Nationwide League for Democracy administrations had taken some steps to enhance water provide in Yangon. In a bid to enhance effectivity, for instance, YCDC in August 2019 invited corporations to submit expressions of curiosity to run components of the community underneath a public-private partnership system. Each native and international corporations have been invited to submit proposals for zone-wide water distribution underneath town’s grasp plan.
On the time, then-Yangon Mayor Maung Maung Soe mentioned the initiative was designed to cease unlawful water connections, in addition to different loss and waste.
“Privatisation is the most effective answer to assist YCDC’s losses,” he was quoted by state media as saying.
The mayor instructed native media journal The Voice in March 2020 that YCDC additionally deliberate to cut back the variety of present tube wells by 2025. By 2040, he mentioned, YCDC aimed to produce water to town’s whole inhabitants, requiring some 330 million gallons a day.
However these promised reforms have been disrupted by the February 2021 coup, which noticed the army arrest and imprison officers like Maung Maung Soe. Widespread resistance to army rule has crippled each the regime’s funds and its skill to implement improvement initiatives. The junta has sought to overturn some insurance policies of the earlier administration.
The coup has additionally restricted Myanmar’s skill to attract on assist from worldwide donors, and put doubtful quite a few water infrastructure initiatives across the metropolis.
Since 2014, the Japan Worldwide Cooperation Company has been implementing the US$230 million first part of the Larger Yangon Water Provide Enchancment Venture, which is able to see the Lagunbyin pumping station upgraded and a pipeline community rolled out throughout the 4 “Dagon Myothit” townships to achieve nearly 600,000 individuals. Previous to the coup, the venture was due for completion this 12 months.
JICA can be due to offer funding for a second part that will see water from the Kokkowa River pumped eastward to Hlaing Tharyar and 6 townships in downtown Yangon. In January 2017, the Japanese and Myanmar governments signed a 25 billion yen ($186 million) mortgage settlement for the venture.
The standing of those initiatives is now unclear. Japan has suspended new improvement help for the reason that coup, however has reportedly resumed implementation of present initiatives. JICA’s Myanmar workplace didn’t reply to requests for remark.
In November 2020, in the meantime, the Asian Improvement Financial institution accredited a $180 million mortgage to extend water provides from the Nga Moe Yeik reservoir by round a 3rd, and to construct a brand new pipeline and pumping station to switch the handled water to residents. The ADB suspended funding for Myanmar initiatives a month after the coup, and its web site says no cash has been disbursed for the water venture.
Equally, Myint Thein mentioned that shortly earlier than the coup the federal government had submitted a proposal to the World Financial institution for an extension venture centered on Yangon groundwater provides underneath the $180 million Ayeyarwady Built-in River Basin Administration venture.
A draft Groundwater Regulation, revealed in state media in December 2019, additionally seems to have been indefinitely delayed by the army coup. The legislation would give the authorities the authorized framework to handle groundwater provides, together with the drilling of recent wells.
The invoice carries a wonderful of K100,000 to K5 million and as much as three years in jail for industrial excavations for dwelling and manufacturing unit makes use of carried out and not using a drilling allow, acts that contaminate groundwater, and the extraction of groundwater in extra of the permitted quantity.
With the regime struggling to carry onto energy, it’s unlikely to prioritise long-term challenges like groundwater over-extraction. Residents are additionally unlikely to heed a legislation carried out by an administration they think about to be illegitimate.
“Due to the authorities adjustments, the authorities are altering their earlier plans and selections,” groundwater marketing consultant Myint Thein instructed Frontier. “Instability and weaknesses in YCDC water provide administration have resulted in much less progress – in reality, there has been zero progress.”
* denotes the usage of pseudonym for security causes
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