POLICY BRIEF: Water Governance and Access to Water in Hakha Town, Chin State, Myanmar: Towards Addressing Water Insecurity

Publication date:
Version 2 on October 2017

Publication:
CSDS Policy Brief

Author:
Carl Middleton, Naruemon Thabchumpon, Van Bawi Lian, and Orapan Pratomlek

Download the policy brief here. Visit our project page on water governance and access to water in Hakha town here.

Summary

Hakha town is the capital of Chin State, Myanmar, located in the mountainous Northwest of the country. In recent years, the town’s population has faced growing water insecurity. Meanwhile, a major landslide in June 2015 compounded these challenges, when thousands of people had to be resettled. In this policy brief, we present our research that reveals how water insecurity is the product of both physical and social processes that are often inter-related, including: rising water demand due to a growing population without systematic town planning; deforestation of the surrounding watershed which has reduced water supply; and underinvestment in water supply infrastructure. Water security can be improved through improved town planning, watershed management, and creative approaches to urban water governance that would combine existing community-led water supply practices with plans now underway for a municipal system. Also important is greater transparency on existing plans, and public participation within them, to ensure equitable and reliable water access for all of Hakha’s residents.