Residents who previously returned to Taungup Town in Arakan (Rakhine) State after they had fled fighting there are now facing severe water shortages and other hardships.
After the Arakan Army (AA) took full control of Taungup Township on 14 December 2024, residents of Taungup Town, in Taungup Township, who had fled fighting in the town started to return. But now, those returned residents are facing water shortages during the height of the hot season.
Previously Taungup Town received enough water for its needs from the Gayunar and Watkyeik dams, but now the water coming from the dams is insufficient because the pipelines from the dams were damaged during fighting and have not been repaired. To make matters worse communal wells have been polluted, making the water from them unsanitary. As a result the town’s residents are facing a shortage of drinking water.
A Taungup Town resident said to DMG: “Right now, scarcity of drinking water is a real problem. We have to travel for hours just to get a pot of water. The utility water [non drinking water] we’re using isn’t very clean, but it’s the best we can get.
In the early days of their return, town residents went to nearby villages to collect water. But as the months passed, the shortages grew more severe, and sources of water became scarcer. As a result, locals have had to increasingly rely on water from lakes, which is less clean.
As a result, many of the town’s residents, including children, pregnant women, and the elderly, are suffering from skin infections caused by the dirty water.
Ma Thaw Thaw, a Taungup Town resident said: “Almost every household has at least one person dealing with skin infections. Even when we were displaced, the problem wasn’t as bad as it is now. Luckily, aid organisations are distributing skin medications, so the situation hasn’t reached a critical point yet.”
The residents who have returned to Taungup Town also face other problems such as high food and commodity prices and landmines planted throughout the town by junta soldiers.
The residents of Taungup Town currently have to get all their food and consumer goods brought down from northern Arakan State which has led to higher prices. These high prices for food and goods have exacerbated the problems of drinking water and medicine shortages already suffered by Taungup Town residents.
During the fighting for Taungup Town junta soldiers set fires, shelled areas, and conducted air raids targeting settlements near their bases and where they had troops deployed. As a result, around 200 houses were destroyed, especially in areas like Yankhaw and Jokyakwin that were close to junta troop positions.
Rebuilding efforts are gradually progressing, but due to the current high price of commodities many residents who lost their houses currently cannot afford the necessary materials needed to rebuild them. Many of those people are now sheltering with relatives in the town and are in urgent need of assistance.
The AA is currently carrying out demining in Taungup Town. But, there are still frequent reports of explosions from landmines and ordnance in areas of the town where fighting was particularly intense and even from other areas of the town.
Ma Thaw Thaw, the previously quoted Taungup Town resident said: “People are worried there might be landmines even in their own yards. It’s even more concerning in Kanpai Ward, where landmine explosions often happen. We really need to see more demining in Taungup Town.”
According to data collected by DMG, six people were injured by landmine explosions in Taungup Township during February and March 2025.
Since fighting in Arakan State between the AA and junta began in mid-November 2023, following the breakdown of a peace agreement between the two groups, the AA has captured 15 townships and started rebuilding efforts. However, it faces challenges in those rebuilding efforts due to the extensive damage caused by fighting.
