Over the years the fresh water discharge water from the Kangon Aquifer that is captured within the Sabetaung Pit has been released to the Yama Stream, varying from 800-1500 cubic meters per hour. The drain that was built was only designed to be a temporary drain as the surrounding lands were within the lease boundaries at that time. In 2012 the lands surrounding the Ywatha drain were returned to the villagers by the order from the President's Office, and the drain has not been able to be re-established or reinforced due to land discussions and objections from the surrounding farmers.
In 2018, agreements were made to permit MYTCL to de-silt the drain and to widen within the existing bunded areas so that the water flow was freer, and that the walls were reinforced so that there was no possible seepage through the walls and into the fields. Machines are required for such a project, but again due to the requests and from discussions with the farmers of this area, MYTCL agreed to complete the project as best as possible through the use of nearly 500 labourers to manually remove the silt and widen the drain. MYTCL management expressed that it cannot be guaranteed that the walls will not seep because of the completion of this project manually due to the fact that the water continues to flow through as it cannot be turned off as it is naturally flowing. The drain is near 3 meters deep at some points and the job will be difficult.It is expected that before the September heavy Monsoon rains that the drain will be completed and additional culverts added to enhance the stability in areas.
A new drain is under discussions that will be constructed properly and engineered to be sustainable for long after the life of the mine.