When is a lake not a lake? Tchaikovsky never wrote the ballet Swan Pond. King Arthur did not receive his sword Excalibur from The Lady of the Pond. Wordsworth never sought his poetic muse in England’s Pond District.
None of this, however, has deterred Mandalay Region’s fisheries department from rebranding Mandalay Region’s famed Taungthaman Lake in Amarapura township, site of the iconic U Bein Bridge, as, yes, a pond.
Conservationists are outraged, arguing that the designation will enable authorities to control the flow of water to ensure it never runs dry, even in hot season. This will place further strain on the ancient teak bridge, and may be designed to sustain fisheries businesses in the area.
This will lead to more damage being caused to U Bein Bridge, said U Maung Maung Oo of the environmentalist group Sein Yaung So. He said he feared more decay to the bridge’s ageing teak poles.
Just as residents and civil society groups are trying to restore the lake’s former glory, the authorities decide it’s just a pond. Who will stand up for its former historic values? he said.
An official from the regional department of fisheries said in mid-December that the new designation would help sustain the beauty of the bridge and protect the environment. Details as to how this will be accomplished have not been revealed.
Local MP U Thein Tun Oo said he had asked in Pyithu Hluttaw whether Taungthaman had sustained any environmental damage when it was still a lake, and been told that it had not.
I’d like to know what was behind this renaming as a pond. The situation seems to be different from what I was told in parliament, he said.
Local resident U Sein Thaung, who lives in Htan Taw village near the body of water in question, said, As a natural lake, Taungthaman’s water levels would rise and fall with the seasons. I think this is about making sure there is always enough water for fisheries businesses.
2016 The Myanmar Times