Villages in several townships in southern Mandalay Division are under water due to recent heavy rainfall, according to local lawmakers.

Min Aung, a member of the regional parliament, told DVB that the townships of Myittha, Thazi and Mahlaing were all experiencing flooding in recent days as rivers, reservoirs and canals overflowed.

In Myittha Township, located some 70 km south of the city of Mandalay, at least four villages were reporting problems due to the flooding of the Samon River, he said.

“The village of Dah Ye Kaung, which is downstream of the Sit-tat-kong dam, has been flooded. The road connecting Dah Ye Kaung and the village of Gwe is impassable. On the other side [of the river], Inn Ying, Sin Myaing and Pauk Myaing are also flooded,” said Min Aung.

Despite the flooding of roads and some homes in the affected areas, however, the situation is not bad enough to force local people to leave, he added.

In Thazi, about 80 km to the south, water from the Nyaung-Yang-Min-Hla lake has flooded about 15 villages, said regional parliamentarian Than Lwin.

“There isn’t so much water, but it has covered some areas. Almost every village [in the township] is affected to some extent. Due to the heavy rain and the release of water overflowing from canals, the water is spreading around,” he said.

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Though the walls of some water reservoirs in Mahlaing Township are broken, this hasn’t caused any flooding in nearby villages, said local parliamentarian Chit Min Thein.

“The unexpected heavy rain broke some reservoir walls because they were poorly built, but there is no flooding,” he said.

There have also been reports of flooding in Taungtha Township, southwest of Mandalay, where a number of households have had to move and some crops were destroyed due to erosion of the Sin Te Wa stream.