The meaning of Nay Pyi Taw means the abode of the kings, yet it was the old dynasty era abode that suffered most in terms of financial damage. Mandalay being the second largest city in Myanmar and the capital of upper Myanmar, many high rise buildings exist as apartments, condos, hotels or office towers. And all these buildings felt the strength of the quake near the epicentre across the Ayeyarwaddy river.
Collapsed buildings
The damages as we discovered were more devastating, extensive and more in-depth. The fallen debris revealed stronger shaking and hence, slightly smaller sizes of rubble and scraps arising out of fallen structures. Compared to previous towns and cities, there were fewer half standing buildings or ground floor left over while the top parts gave way or ground floor only sunken into the soil while others on top stayed in shape.
Most buildings in Mandalay were constructed without even reserving a distance of a couple of feet from each other. These should somehow act as support structures to one another. Yet, because of the strength of the quake, even weak buildings sandwiched between two strong, relatively new ones were not spared. There is no chance for any building of questionable construction to remaining standing tall.
To add salt to the wound, the city suffered a wave of incessant rains and strong winds within a week aftermath of the earthquake, making the lives of residents displaced from their own homes unbearable to say the least.
Many areas have been cordoned off to prevent looting and for safety reasons; the Great Wall hotel, Hotel 78, Sky Villa condo, etc. Large high rise buildings such as hotels, condos and apartments were all affected in one way or the other. The contractors and construction companies of those collapsed buildings have probably disappeared overnight and those on the other side of the spectrum, i.e., the companies that built the buildings that were not damaged by the quake, were in flux with orders for reconstruction jobs. A couple of those latter construction companies in Mandalay that MI spoken to, has their order books filled for the next two to three years.
This is also the first time we have sighted many cars that had been flattened by fallen debris. It was such a unique sight to behold.
Front tilts and side leans
We observed many front tilts and side leans of tall buildings in Mandalay, especially around immediate south of the palace compound is densely populated. And for the very first time on our trip, We saw tall buildings tilted towards the front, i.e., the road, on the verge of falling down. Just imagine adding another 15-20 degree of tilt to the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy.
Access to almost all with such dangerous front tilted structures had been sealed off. Some with slightly lesser front tilt, owners were probably trying to carry out the valuables from within and sourcing scarce contractors to demolish the whole set up. Some are still setting up pandals in front of them and enjoying the water festival, perhaps oblivious of the danger they would be in, with a tiny bit of extra shakes of the mother earth.
Some front tilted buildings are so tall that their collapse would undoubtedly destroy the houses right opposite of them across the road. The demolishing job has to be handled with extreme care.
Side tilts of the buildings were also causing distressed not only to the buildings in question, but also to the impacted neighbours whose houses might as well have to be pulled down.
Recovery efforts
Most of the rescue and recovery efforts were concentrated in Mandalay from the start. After two weeks, tents were still occupying across the moat around the old palace and field hospitals sponsored by friendly international countries are still in operation in the suburbs at the time of our documentary filming.
The difference between the rich and poor became painfully obvious during any disaster. The poor were still living in tents, while the rich moved out of the city temporarily to live in their summer homes in hilly Pyin Oo Lwin 60 mile to the east. The poor were still sorting the bricks out from the rubble manually, while the rich were getting mechanised equipment to quickly clear the detritus off their lands. But the rich are also feeling the pain. At the time of writing, there is a noticeable increase in offers for sale of cars from Mandalay, especially luxury cars such as Mercedes and Range Rovers.
Palace, pagodas and places of worships
The history place of interest in Mandalay was not spared either. All the barbicans or at least the roof of them, have fallen. Palace walls were on most parts damaged. Some have been covered by vinyl sheets to prevent further environmental damage. The calming waters of the moat surrounding the palace walls offers a stark contrast to the extensive damage suffered by the palace in plain view.
A visit to Mandalay would not be complete without doing a pilgrimage to Mahar Myat Muni Pagoda (aka Payargyi). Other than the stupa of the sitting Lord Buddha right in the middle of the pagoda, the rest of the structures, walls, pagodas, stupas were extensively damaged. It was such a sight to behold that it was hard for us at least, to think that it was really Mahar Muni.
