Source: Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin)
Date: 20 Mar 2009
On World Water Day 2009, Merlin would like to draw attention to the critical clean drinking water shortages in the Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar.
Clean drinking water has always been a scarce resource in the Delta, but these shortages have been exacerbated by the devastating effects of Cyclone Nargis in May last year. The fact that the height of the dry season is fast approaching means that water shortages will peak imminently.
The Delta opens out onto the Bay of Bengal, meaning that southern stretches of the river are saline whilst the more northern parts are fresh water. As the dry season advances, what is known as the salt/fresh water interface moves up the Delta, as less fresh water arrives from inland rivers. Waterways in the affected area become progressively more saline as the dry season wears on.
Each year, many communities' water ponds are insufficient to last throughout the dry season, and villages without access to freshwater sources are faced with the challenge of importing water from other villages with more extensive ponds. Pre-cyclone, it was usually just a case of buying water from the nearest village, and a whole industry of boat-borne water vendors thrived during the season.
However, many of the boats used by the villagers and by water vendors were destroyed in the cyclone and those who still have transport will probably have to go much further afield to find water. More critically still, people just don't have the resources they normally do to buy water, having had their assets and livelihoods destroyed by Cyclone Nargis.
Andre Steele, Merlin's Water and Sanitation Technical Manager, says: "The immediate need is to provide clean drinking water. And in the long-term, communities need support to be able to capture and store the abundant amount of rain that falls in the wet season."
Since Cyclone Nargis, Merlin has carried out an extensive programme to clean community drinking water ponds, rebuild damaged water tanks and distribute jerry cans and water filters.
The water and sanitation team, consisting of two expatriates and 33 national staff, has installed and is running one water treatment unit and six reverse osmosis machines. Reverse osmosis machines are able to produce drinking water from otherwise contaminated sources including river water. Using 12 cargo boats, Merlin is distributing water to 90 villages, with a total population of 40,000 and to date has distributed 1,115,000 litres of purified water.
Dr Paul Sender, Merlin's Country Director in Myanmar, says: "This life-saving intervention will reach all members of all households, with a particular emphasis on the most vulnerable population groups, including children, the elderly and disabled. Children are particularly important, as they are most at risk of contracting water-borne diseases. In order to provide a comprehensive and sustainable approach to the problem, we are simultaneously addressing the issue of poor sanitation."
Merlin is adopting an approach called Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), a process devised to mobilise a community into building and using latrines and to stop open defecation by creating an understanding amongst villages of the risks associated with poor household level waste disposal.
Sanitation teams visit villages to talk about the dangers of open defecation and support and encourage people to change their behaviour and start building latrines. This approach has rarely been tried in the aftermath of such a large-scale natural disaster but has proved to be a highly effective intervention and so far this activity has been completed in 25 villages out of the 90 villages receiving water distribution.
All of the above programmes are having an immediate impact, in terms of reducing water-borne diseases, but more sustained investment is needed to make a real difference in the long-term.
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