Impassable roads have made it difficult to get aid to local villagers hit by the region’s worst flooding in four decades.
Even though flooding in northern Kachin State’s Naw Mung Township has receded, local people still need outside assistance, according to community-based organizations (CBOs) operating in the area.
“Paddy-seed storage houses were flooded, so now we have to clean the paddy seeds and try to mill them so that there is rice to eat. It’s really hard for local people. More than 21 houses were flooded. Eight families have nothing left to eat, and the rest have very little,” said Hti Na, who works with a local CBO in Naw Mung town.
The flooding caused extensive damage to houses, storage sheds, roads, bridges and paddy fields in Yapborg and Barborg, villages located about nine miles from the town of Naw Mung in Puta-O District.
“Local authorities have already sent a report to the Kachin State government detailing the number of flooded paddy fields and paddy-seed storage houses in Naw Mung. The state government and [the Union government’s] Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement will both offer compensation for the losses. But they need to act quickly,” Chen Tang Khin, the MP for Naw Mung constituency-1, told KNG.
According to Chen Tang Khin, local people living in low-lying areas have been moved to higher ground because the rain in Naw Mung Township has not yet stopped completely.
“There are only two seasons here in northern Kachin State—the rainy season and winter. Our area sees flooding every year. I think the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement should prepare assistance for people living in flooded areas,” said Chen Tang Khin.
Currently, travel between the towns of Puta-O and Nawng Moong is very difficult due to the flooding, and larger vehicles can’t use the road at all, resulting in delays in delivering aid.
According to local people, this year’s flooding is the worst they’ve seen since a huge deluge hit Nawng Moong in 1979.
