We all know that littering is a big problem in Yangon (to say the very least). However, since the majority of littered trash just ends up in the city’s sewers, it’s difficult to remember or even imagine just how much rubbish there is beneath our feet that should actually be in, oh you know, trash bins.
Earlier this week, members of the YCDC cleared out the sewers underneath 164th Street in Tamwe. One YCDC employee uploaded photos of the haul onto Facebook and, well, a picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few thousand words (and a whole lot more water bottles).
This was what was awaiting the employees when they climbed down into the sewer:
And we wonder why when it rains, all the water just doesn’t flow down the drains like it’s supposed to:
Keeping our city clean and saving the earth not good enough incentives to stop you from littering? How about the fact that it reduces the chances of snakes like these making themselves right at home within our sewers (and then surfacing onto the streets when said sewers overflow):
We mean, just look at all this. Is that seriously a can of insect repellent?
Jokes aside, blocked sewers mean that water on the streets doesn’t have anywhere to go. As we’ve already seen this rainy season, all of this can lead to some serious flooding, which in turn can lead to cars and buses breaking down, utility poles falling over, people accidentally stepping into open drains that they couldn’t see, and a whole lot of other annoying and potentially dangerous problems that could easily be avoided, or at the very least, reduced.
Yes, the Yangon regional government needs to also step up and upgrade its ancient sewer system, but that’s only half of the problem. Regardless of how much money is put towards improving the city’s drains, it’s not going to make a difference if we keep clogging them up with mounds of junk.
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