Chiang Mai (Mizzima) –National League for Democracy women’s wing members are donating water to villagers in Pegu Division where wells and ponds have dried up because of drought and severely hot weather, group officials said.
More than 60 villages in Pegu Division are facing severe water shortages after record high temperatures across Burma have accelerated evaporation of ponds and reservoirs, according to earlier reports. Villagers in the townships of Pegu, Waw, Thanatpin, Kawa and Daik Oo, all in Pegu Division, are lacking drinking water and water for hygiene needs as small dams have lain dry since the end of April.
NLD women’s affairs chief Dr. May Win Myint, central committee member Aye Aye Mar and Pegu Division NLD women’s affairs chief Hla Hla Moe paid for 1,100 for 20-litre drinking-water bottles today in Thanatpin, party sources said.
“We started our drinking-water donation in Thanatpin today. Since there are high demands from donors and well-wishers like us, the drinking-water bottling plants cannot produce to meet our demand so we’ll only be able to receive our water bottles the day after tomorrow. We have already paid for them”, Dr. May Win Myint said.
The bottles would be distributed to villages in need in co-operation with Pegu and Thanatpin NLD Youth members, a source said.
The NLD announced on March 29 its decision against re-registering as a party to contest this year’s polls, declaring the 2008 Constitution drafted by the military regime and electoral laws promulgated in March unfair and undemocratic. On that day they decided to focus on social work across the country.
“NLD must intervene wherever and whenever the people face hardships. We must do for them what we can. We are still opening our offices and party members are still going to these offices”, Dr. May Win Myint added.
Drinking-water distribution was started on a small scale by Pegu Division NLD Youth members on May 2 on a small scale until they were joined by Pegu City businessmen, who bought water bottles from bottling plants and distributed them.
A policeman from Pegu No. 2 station said the Pegu municipality and police departments had also started donating water through the Thanatpin police station. He added that some deaths from heat exhaustion were reported in Thanatpin but he was unable to give an exact toll.
“Our No. 2 Police Station has started this work only today by carrying both utility and drinking water in two trucks to Thanatpin. The municipality started distributing water yesterday. I have heard that No. 1 and No. 3 police stations will also distribute water,” the policeman told Mizzima.
Weather officials blamed a late monsoon and higher than average temperatures for the shortages, as the conditions increase the rate of water evaporation.
At about 8:55 p.m. on May 11 the temperature both in Rangoon and Pegu was 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 Celsius). Wednesday temperatures for the two cities will reach 104 Fahreinheit (40 Celsius) and 105.8 degrees (41 Celsius) respectively, according to wunderground.com.
Meanwhile, areas of the Irrawaddy Delta hit by Cyclone Nargis are also suffering from water shortages, especially in Mawlamyaingyun and Haigyikyun townships.
