Perspectives: Dancing rivers of Myanmar – mapping moves from space
Changes in river morphology including floods, erosion, and landslides are affecting ecosystem habitats and the lives and livelihoods of communities living along Myanmar’s rivers. SERVIR-Mekong is using satellite-based monitoring tools to support Myanmar agencies and communities to manage the risks better.
Last year in Myanmar, floods resulted in 31 deaths and displaced over 300,000 people because official warnings came too late.To help prevent such crises, SERVIR-Mekong and SEI are developing a seasonal river morphological monitoring and warning system called Dancing Rivers to improve flood forecasting in Myanmar.
Recurrent riverbank erosion and collapse are becoming frequent, particularly during Myanmar’s monsoon season. This forces people to relocate their homes and lose agricultural livelihoods. In recent years, increased quarrying activities have emerged as an additional drivers of relocation and livelihood loss. The choice between staying in one place or relocating permanently elsewhere is often only a question of a few meters for many communities living along the country’s rivers. These temporary but frequent relocations expose communities to a host of difficulties, including water shortages, lack of fertile farmland, and loss of meagre savings as people are forced to rebuild their lives from scratch.
Karthikeyan Matheswaran, Thanapon Piman, Rajesh Daniel
