An anti-dam committee in Northern Thailand has submitted complaints over the provincial governor’s secret meetings to construct controversial dams in the area.
Category: Region
Selected environmental stories from media outlets in the Mekong region and beyond.
Myanmar incurs wrath of civic groups as hydropower solutions remain its main priority
Khine Kyaw MYANMAR’S Electric Power Ministry will go ahead with hydropower projects, the Minister for Electric Power, Industry, Science and Technology said last week amid reports of local resistance. Nyan Tun U told the Confexhub’s Myanmar Green Energy Summit that the government would fulfil its target to achieve universal electricity access by 2030. At present, […]
Shan Community Handover 23,717 Signatures Opposing Dams on the Salween River to Australian Consultants
Karen News Shan community representatives presented 23,717 signatures opposing the construction of plans to dams the Salween River to the Australian company doing the environmental and social impact assessments (EIA/SIA) for the Mong Ton dam in southern Shan State. The Shan community representatives delivered their petition to the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC) offices in […]
Cambodia dam’s benefits exclude people in its vicinity
The construction of the Kamchay Dam in Cambodia, though beneficial to urban areas, has not been so good for those who live close to the dam site in Kampot province, according to a study.
Lower Sesan 2: Construction resumed, troubles restarted
Mekong Commons This story was produced in collaboration with The Mekong Eye and Mekong Matters Journalism Network, with full editorial control to the journalist and their outlet. Thousands of workers, mostly Chinese, are hustling working on the Lower Sesan 2 (LS2) dam site in Northeast Cambodia, and nearly 40% of their work is complete. The US$816 […]
Lower Sesan 2 Dam jeopardizes lives of millions of Cambodia’s river dwellers
Kongpob Areerat With an increasing need for energy, the Royal Cambodian Government has spent nearly a billion US dollars on a hydroelectric dam that it claimed was necessary for industry. However, the real social and economic cost of the dam, which will flood an area equivalent to a small province and submerge thousands of families’ […]
Dams ‘destroying Mekong fish stock’
Pratch Rujivanarom Fishermen in delta and Northeast Thailand say dams in China and Laos have hit breeding and yields, forcing many to quit MEKONG River fishermen have already suffered dramatically from dams and irrigation works, which have decimated fish stocks and undermined livelihoods that supported families for generations. Nguyen Anh Duy, a 33-year-old, third-generation fisherman […]
PR ARTICLE: NASA, USAID Open Environmental Information Hub for Southeast Asia
NASA/ USAID NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Monday launched SERVIR-Mekong, a joint project to strengthen regional environmental monitoring in five countries in the lower Mekong region of Southeast Asia. One of three SERVIR hubs now operating in developing regions of the world, the center is housed at the Asian Disaster Preparedness […]
NGOs, Volunteer Groups Take Pollution Fight into their Own Hands
Amid mounting concerns about environmental issues, a growing number of people in China are starting to take the fight against pollution into their own hands. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and volunteer groups focused on environmental protection have been sprouting up around the country over the past few years. Most are engaged in detection efforts and conducting their own research on industrial pollution that is often ignored by the government.
As the need for power surges, are small – or big – dams the answer?
To provide more clean energy, particularly in fast-growing Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, the world needs more hydropower dams, energy experts say.
But a surge in building of big dams is also leading to poor people being displaced and losing rights to water – something that needs to be addressed if more dam projects go ahead, community leaders and researchers say.