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 Friday, 28 August 2015 01:08 Written by  Thawng Zel Thang ([email protected])

28 August 2015 — Landslides, believed to have been triggered by heavy rains starting yesterday, have destroyed houses and graves in Mizoram State, India.

Aizawl, the State’s capital, has been affected, with about 160 tombs in three different cemeteries destroyed, according to the Indian Express today.

It reported that houses had been damaged and that internal city roads had been blocked at several locations.

Lalchhuanawma, secretary of the Young Mizo Association in Seling, was quoted as saying that the Champhai road connecting between Seling and Tuirini had been swept away by landslides.

At least nine separate places had damage reported in the State.

http://www.chinlandguardian.com/index.php/cartoons/item/2395-landslides-hit-mizoram-state

Monday, 31 August 2015 23:58 Written by  Chinland Guardian
Published in Chin News

29 August 2015 — A village called Tuikhingzang, aka Hakhalay, in Tonzang Township, Chin State was struck by mudslides at about 3am in the morning yesterday.

Ngun Lal, a Chin resident in Kalay, Sagaing Region, who went to the scene at dawn, said: “The village has been completely under thick mud and it has got to be abandoned.”

Tuikhingzang, a hillside village bordering Kalay Township, Sagaing Region, is home to 352 people of 66 households.

He said that the mudslides had taken place gradually and that residents had managed to run away from the incident although it had been at night.

“The villagers said that the hill above their village had been affected by recent heavy rains causing landslides and soil erosion. Debris and mud which had been piling up on the hillside had started flowing toward the village, thus flooding the houses,” said Lal, chief editor of the Chin Times, a local newspaper in Kalay.

No one is reported dead and seriously injured.

Some of the victims are taking shelter at a temporary camp built near Thado village in Tonzang Township while others, mostly women and children, are staying at Khampat village and in Kalay with the help of Chin communities and churches.

Hung Ngai, chief minister of the Chin State government, had made a visit to the village, according to government sources.

http://www.chinlandguardian.com/index.php/chin-news/item/2397-mudslides-destroy-village-in-tonzang-township

September 1, 2015 Written by Khonumthung Published in Khonumthung

Dr Sasa, the founder of the Chin community based organisation the Health and Hope Society has, for the second time, donated 500 bags of rice, 500 Kgs of cooking oil, 500 Kgs of dal and 500 Kgs of salt to the flood affected people of southern Chin State.

Dr. SasaThe new donation, which was bought in Assam State in India will be shipped from there and distributed to flood-victims in southern Chin State in September.

Dr Sasa told Khonumthung News: “Now we are distributing Clean Delivery Kits for pregnant women among the flood-affected people in Chin state, we are trying to get these kits to local residents during September 2015”

Dr Sasa said that only $24 million USD has been donated to Burma flood victims from domestic and international sources. This will only support the 20 million flood affected people in Burma for two months. They actually need at least £200 million USD to support them for the next 10 months and $300 million USD to restore their family lives.

So, Dr Sasa will try to raise $300 million USD aid for the Burma flood victims by urgently sending aid agencies data detailing how many people have been affected by the floods and how they have been affected. He will ask for aid from: the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the Wold health Organisation (WHO), The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nation’s agencies in the EU, UK, US, Canada, Japan and Australia.

Dr Sasa said: “Without solving this disaster the November elections will not be free and fair. It is very important that we now urgently gather data on the Myanmar flood-victims.”

Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI

http://www.bnionline.net/news/chin-state/item/753-dr-sasa-makes-more-donations-to-chin-flood-victims.html

By Ei Ei Toe Lwin and Ye Mon   |   Thursday, 03 September 2015

The upcoming election may be up to three months late in landslide-ravaged Chin State.

While the official nationwide poll is just 66 days away, the Union Election Commission said it is mulling a request to delay voting in Chin State due to lingering effects of the floods.

“We are thinking about postponing the election in Chin State, but not in all areas. If it is necessary, we think it would be postponed just where there are still difficulties in transportation and communication,” U Tin Aye, the UEC chair, said during a press conference in Yangon yesterday.

The Chin National Democratic Party requested the delay as the impoverished northern state is still struggling to recover from record-setting rains and at least 15,000 residents remain displaced.

“If the commission held the election in Chin State on the set date it would be like approving the 2008 constitution in the wake of Nargis,” said U Zo Zam, chair of the Chin National Democratic Party.

“[The Chin flood victims] have already got physical and mental problems. The government urgently needs to support their rehabilitation process, and, after normal conditions resume, then the election should be held,” he said.

U Gin Kan Lian, general secretary of the Zomi League for Democracy, agreed with the proposed delay.

“Roads and bridges were destroyed because of the flooding. It’s not easy for parties to campaign under these circumstances,” he said.

Infrastructure has take a severe blow in the hard-hit state, where receding floodwater was followed by landslides that may force the capital city to relocate. The Chin State government has requested K27 billion for the recovery efforts.

http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/16288-election-in-doubt-in-flood-hit-chin-state.html

By MULTIMEDIA, SAI ZAW / THE IRRAWADDY| Saturday, September 5, 2015 |

Since June, many parts of Burma have been devastated by flooding that is said to be the worst to hit the country in decades. More than 100 people died due to the violent waters and ensuing landslides, while an estimated 1.6 million others were affected. Situated in the northwestern corner of Burma, Chin State has seen some of the worst damage wreaked by the flooding.

Extreme weather in Chin State has claimed five lives and affected more than 20,000 people as of late August. Debris from landslides has blocked many of the roads and destroyed crucial bridges, undermining necessary relief efforts.

Photographer Sai Zaw recently visited the state capital, Hakha, and surrounding villages, documenting the depth of the damage and the lives of locals struggling to restore normalcy.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/multimedia-burma/a-rough-road-to-recovery-in-flood-ravaged-chin-state.html

By LAWI WENG / THE IRRAWADDY| Saturday, September 5, 2015 |
 
KALE TOWNSHIP, Sagaing Division — After a month living in a cramped hut, San Htay still has no idea where she will ultimately end up. This much she does know: It is unlikely that she and her husband will ever return to live in the village they were forced to abandon when floodwaters ravaged western Kale Township, Sagaing Division, several weeks ago.

When The Irrawaddy met the 45-year-old, she was returning from a salvage mission, walking back from her native Maw Lite village with household possessions in both arms, and balanced precariously atop her head.

Asked what her future holds, San Htay’s answer was resignedly simple: “I have no clear future.”

That’s true for many of the 385,000 households displaced nationwide by severe flooding that began in mid-July and has since affected 12 of Burma’s 14 states and divisions.

For now, San Htay said she would wait and see what kind of land the government would provide for those without the monetary means to take an initial offer put to displaced residents of Kale Township.

“They [authorities in Kale] told us we have to deposit at least 250,000 kyats [US$195] to get a small plot of land to stay on, but those who have money have to pay 500,000 [kyats] all at once, up front. But I do not have money, and so I have not enrolled to deposit money,” she said.

For many victims of the high waters here, the uncertainty is not just about finding a new place to live. Along with homes, paddy fields have been inundated, and with this an economic engine for the region and vital source of livelihoods has been imperiled.

More than 300 households in Maw Lite village have been abandoned, with a lack of potable water and an all-covering residual mud keeping its former inhabitants away for the time being—and maybe for good.

Though it was a stretch for him financially, 68-year-old Tin Win said he had already paid the 500,000 kyats required of some to get a small plot of land to stay on.

“I can’t really afford it, but I have to think about my children’s future. So, I paid it,” he told The Irrawaddy.

Like San Htay, Tin Win returned to Maw Lite village, joining a humanitarian aid convoy from Rangoon that was delivering supplies to the region. Visiting his abandoned home, Tin Win said the scene was without personal precedent.

“Our grandfather was 90 years old, and died in that house,” he said. “As I remember it, even he had never had such a terrible experience as we are having now.”

As the waters swiftly inundated Maw Lite, Tin Win had little time to gather his belongings before fleeing to higher ground. With waters rising above the entryway, Tin Win was forced to punch a hole through his roof to retrieve spare clothes.

“I lost 600 baskets of [rice] paddy,” he said, pointing his finger toward the storehouse where the rotting rice remained.

Moving Day

About 150 families from neighboring Pauk Khaung village who have been staying in a temporary camp at the entrance of Kale town will soon be relocated, according to those displaced.

They too have lived for a month along the main road at the entrance of Kale, their village also hard-hit by the flooding. But rather than to offer the displaced greater certainty, it is safety that has prompted authorities to instruct the families to move; three children have been involved in car accidents since the roadside settlement was established.

“It is not safe for us to stay along the road. This is why they told us to relocate to another place,” said San Yee, a woman from Paung Khaung who has been staying along the highway in what amounts to a wall-less raised platform covered by tarpaulin.

“Cars are trying to avoid having accidents, but there are many kids here,” she added.

Pauk Khaung village was decimated by the flood, and as is a common refrain in Kale, the villagers still do not know when they might return to their homes. The authorities in Kale have hired locals to help resettle the roadside camp at a football field in Tharyarwaddy village, a 20-minute drive from the town of Kale.

The UN said last week that more than $75 million would be required through December to meet the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the floods. For many in Kale Township and elsewhere, foremost on their Maslowian list of unmet needs is a place to call home.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/disaster/no-quick-fixes-for-kales-flood-displaced.html

YANGON | BY TIMOTHY MCLAUGHLIN

Myanmar said on Tuesday it had appealed for international assistance to help provide food, temporary shelter and clothing for more than 210,000 people affected by widespread flooding following weeks of heavy monsoon rains.

At least 47 people have died in the floods, according to the government.

Myanmar’s call for international aid stands in sharp contrast to stance taken when it was ruled by generals. The junta had refused outside help in the wake of a devastating cyclone in 2008, when 130,000 people perished in the disaster.

While the quasi civilian government, which took power in 2011 and faces elections in November, is leading the relief effort, but the military is handling operations on the ground.

“We are cooperating and inviting international assistance. We have started contacting possible donor organizations and countries,” Ye Htut, the Minister of Information and spokesman for the President’s Office said.

He said international assistance was also needed to relocate people and rebuild communities after the flood waters retreat. With a per capita GDP of $1,105, Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in East Asia and the Pacific.

The Chinese Embassy in Yangon began providing relief supplies to stricken areas this week.

The minister said that the flood waters have begun to recede in Rakhine state on the west coast, which suffered some of the worst flooding after being lashed by the tail of Cyclone Komen, which made landfall in Bangladesh late last week.

Areas northeast of the Rakhine state capital, Sittwe, including Mrauk U and Minbya, were particularly hard hit.

Video footage shot by Reuters on Monday aboard a military helicopter in Rakhine showed hundreds of people rushing through muddy flood waters to collect air dropped supplies.

Rakhine is home to around 140,000 displaced people, mainly Rohingya Muslims who live in squalid camps scattered across the state.

Emergency workers were still facing difficulties in Chin State on Tuesday after the rain caused landslides in the mountainous state that borders India and Bangladesh.

Main roads running through the state remained impassible and attempts to access cities by helicopter were hampered by the relentless downpours, Ye Htut said.

The state-owned Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, citing the Ministry of Education, said that more than 1,300 schools across the country had been shuttered due to the floods.

Shwe Mann, the speaker of parliament, has also postponed the reconvening of parliament scheduled for Aug. 10, in what will be the final session before the country heads to the polls on Nov. 8.

Hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland have been inundated by the floods, with the U.N. warning that this could, “disrupt the planting season and impact long-term food security.”

The Global New Light reported that the Myanmar Rice Federation would halt exports until mid-September in an effort to stabilize domestic rice prices and keep rice in country.

(Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/04/us-myanmar-storm-idUSKCN0Q90G820150804