Arakan State’s Rural Development Department is planning to supply water to 11 townships in the state that face annual water shortages during the dry season.

The townships that the department plans to supply with water are Sittwe, Rathedaung, Mrauk-U, Kyauktaw, Myebon, Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Ann, Thandwe, Taungup and Gwa.

Departmental staff officer U Thaw Zan Phyo Zin said the department is working to supply sufficient water to 27 of the most vulnerable villages around the end of this month.

“We have not yet decided how many gallons to supply to those villages. We will distribute in response to updated information,” he told DMG.

The department has not yet decided on the budget allocation for its water supply activities, but plans to cover nearly 22,000 people from approximately 27 villages.

“Some places are difficult to travel to, but we try to supply water there,” he said.

The department distributed 13.9 million gallons of water to 8,681 people from five villages in four Arakan State townships last year.

Arakan State receives more than 200 inches of rainfall a year, as well as benefiting from the upstream freshwaters of the Mayu, Kaladan, Laymyo and Naf rivers, but water scarcity remains an annual concern.