Irrawaddy/AFP-Apr 14
Thousands marked the start of Myanmar’s water festival on Sunday in the ruins of last month’s earthquake, with the country’s most raucous holiday muted by the tragedy of the tremor. The “Thingyan” festival typically celebrates Myanmar’s new year with water-splashing rituals symbolizing cleansing and renewal, but the central cities of Mandalay and Sagaing lie devastated from the 7.7-magnitude quake. Two weeks on from the disaster which killed more than 3,600, hundreds are still living in tent encampments peppered among pancaked apartment blocks, razed tea shops and demolished hotels. Early on Sunday families were buying clay pots and plant sprigs customarily placed inside homes to welcome the new year — even though some had nowhere to put them.
“My heart is heavy. Our neighborhood used to come together to celebrate Thingyan but we cannot do it this year,” said 55-year-old Ma Phyu, camping with nine family members north of Mandalay’s quake-damaged Royal Palace.
Her grandchildren usually pester her to buy them squirt guns, but this year she has nothing to offer. “I don’t see any way that they can be happy,” Ma Phyu said.
More than 5,200 buildings were destroyed in the March 28 quake according to official figures, leaving more than two million people in need, the UN says. Many survivors in Mandalay and the neighboring city of Sagaing still lack working latrines and need to queue for drinking water, while the weather forecast for heavy rains has them fretting over their makeshift homes. A fresh 5.5-magnitude aftershock hit Mandalay Sunday, sending a shudder of fear through the city as buildings were evacuated. The ruling military junta has commanded for the five-day festival — usually Myanmar’s most raucous holiday — to have no music or dance. The World Food Program says it is being forced to cut off one million people from vital aid in Myanmar this month because donations have dried up. Myanmar has been riven by a civil war following a 2021 coup which spurred mass poverty and displacement even before the quake. Read more at:
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-quake-victims-mark-new-year-camped-in-ruins.html
