After all roads to Banmauk Town in northern Sagaing Region were closed indefinitely, prices in Homalin Town in the same region have been rising for the past two weeks.

After seizing Banmauk Town in Banmauk Township, the People's Defence Force (PDF) under the National Unity Government (NUG) closed all roads leading to the town on September 16, halting the flow of goods throughout the entire township.

Banmauk Township plays a crucial role in supplying essential goods to Homalin Township, including Homalin Town. When the flow of goods from Banmauk Township was halted, prices in Homalin Town surged sharply.

“In the market, a viss (about 1.6 kilograms) of tomatoes are now going for 60,000 MMK, and prices of other goods have shot up too. Right now, no supplies are coming into Homalin because the roads from Banmauk are closed,” a town resident said.

Normally, goods, fuel, and food are loaded onto boats at Shwetaw Pier on the western side of Banmauk Town and transported along the Chindwin River to Bokone Village in Homalin Township.

Now, with Banmauk turned into a battlefield, no shipments are reaching Homalin by either road or river.

Homalin also used to receive goods by air from Mandalay City, but the cost is prohibitively high. Air freight is about ten times more expensive than road transport, making it impractical to rely on air for all types of supplies.

Since September, flights between Mandalay and Homalin have been cut from daily to just three times a week, with cargo planes on the route also limited to three weekly flights.