THE Yangon City Development Committee plans to upgrade major drains throughout the city to ease flooding problems in future rainy seasons, said U Soe Myaing, the deputy head of the committee’s Engineering Department (Roads and Bridges).

“Work on the project is expected to begin in the coming dry season,” he said.
To avoid flooding in major areas of the city, drains that flow into natural rivers and creeks will be widened as required and their beds and embankments will be covered with concrete or bricks, he said.

Flooding last May in Kamaryut and Insein townships affected the flow of vehicle traffic on major thoroughfares such as Insein and Pyay roads.

“The project is expected to allow water to flow more freely through the city’s drainage system, especially in areas where the direction of the watercourse changes,” U Soe Myaing said.

“The old ditches are easily destroyed by high, fast-moving water, which can spill over the banks and change the course of the drains,” he said.

He also called on the public to dispose of garbage in designated areas and to refrain from clogging the drains with litter.

“The main reason drains get blocked is because people recklessly throw their garbage into the drainage system. Public schools should do more to educate students about the problem,” he said.

U Soe Myaing said another problem was building development, which destroys natural areas that would otherwise help absorb excess rainwater.
“New buildings should be designed to include drainage areas of sufficient size. Developers should come to our department for advice in this regard,” he said.

He said the department assigns five to 10 workers to each township to work six days a week cleaning garbage from blocked drains.

“We also spent K88 million in the 2006-2007 financial year to broaden bottleneck sections in the underground drainage system,” said U Soe Myaing.
An engineer interviewed by The Myanmar Times said flooding affects everyone and impacts social, educational, economic and other aspects of urban life.

“The government and the public have the responsibility to deal with garbage correctly,” he said. “People need to dispose of it properly and YCDC needs to arrange garbage pickup service.”

“The government also needs to focus on ways to prevent flooding by learning from the experience of past years. And if flooding occurs, they need to supply the machinery, manpower and funding to take care of the problem as quickly as possible,” he said.