By Xinhua,
Yangon : Water supply has started to resume in some areas of Myanmar’s biggest city of Yangon since Monday night after the city’s electricity-run water works, hit by a recent deadly cyclonic storm, re-operated with the installation of a high-wattage generator, the state newspaper New Light of Myanmar confirmed Tuesday.
An initial of some six main townships such as Kyauktada, Botataung, Pabedan, Pazundaung, Lanmadaw and Mingala Taungnyunt have got supplied with water again after urgent installation of the 1,375-kilovolt-ampere (KVA) generator, the report said.
Each household can tap the water sources at their respective inlet points of their houses. However, water still cannot be pumped up to tanks erected atop buildings as electricity supply keeps failing to operate water pumps.
Residents in the former capital had rushed for water over the last two days in the aftermath of the cyclonic storm strike on last Saturday.
Some municipal-authorities-owned water supply vehicles were distributing water to local residents, while some private individuals, who have tube wells built in their residential compounds, were also donating water with the use of generators-operated pumps to people, who drove a long way and queued themselves to pick up the water.
Most of the shops in the city ran short of purified drinking water, while some manufacturers sold the water at a price over three times the original due to higher cost at a time without power sources.
The deadly tropical cyclone Nargis, which occurred over the Bayof Bengal, hit such coastal towns in southwestern Ayeyawaddy division as Haing Gyi Island, Pathein, Myaungmya, Laputta, Mawlamyinegyun, Kyaiklat, Phyarpon and Bogalay as well as the Yangon city, almost totally devastating these areas.
The cyclonic storm torn away roofs of government, public and residential buildings, brought down uncountable big and small trees, forced down some walls, blew down many lamp-posts, telephone lines and billboards, and destroyed some jetties.
A total of 67 powered vessels were sunk by Nargis, the authorities said.
Myanmar has declared five divisions and states — Yangon, Bago, Ayeyawaddy, Kayin and Mon, hit by the recent cyclone storm, as natural-disaster-hit regions.
Relief and resettlement measures are underway after the government formed a national central committee for prevention of natural disaster to promptly and effectively carry out the undertakings.
It was the first time that Myanmar was striken by such a deadly cyclone storm in the history, suffering the heaviest damage.