Members of the Save the Salween Network gathered at Wan Sala village in Shan state to mark International Rivers Day and voice their opposition to a series of six dams set to be built on the SalweenRiver, also known as the Thanlwin River. Of particular concern to the group of environmentalists and concerned citizens is the Mong Ton dam project, which if constructed in Shan State is expected to be South East Asia’s largest dam.
Tag: salween
Groups to hold ‘day of action’ to protest Salween dams
Last weekend thousands of people are expected to assemble on the banks of the Thanlwin or Salween River for a special event to remind the new government and foreign investors that ethnic people stand in solidarity to defend their river and their democratic and human rights against a series of dams that threaten their livelihoods, cultural sites, and homes.
The power struggle at Salween River
The Salween River meanders through pristine mountain forests before reaching a camp for internally displaced people at Ei Htu Hta, near the Thai-Myanmar border. Temporary bamboo shelters dot the hills around the camp, with small solar panels attached to the thatched roofs providing power for a few hours a day. There is no government electricity supply to the camp and many of the people displaced by the fighting between the Burma Army (BA) and ethnic armed forces believe there never will be, despite seven dam projects proposed for the Salween. They also believe that the recent outbreaks of fighting between the BA and Karen forces are part of a master plan to ensure the dam projects, many of which will supply cheap energy to Thailand, go ahead.
Dam EIAs enable “river grabbing”
Water and river grabbing refers to situations where powerful actors such as developers and governments are able to take control of, or reallocate to their own benefits – including decision-making power – the use of rivers and water resources.
Shan and Karen CSOs strongly oppose Salween Dam
Villagers and CSOs from Shan State and Karen State on 10 March protested against the Mong Ton hydropower project during the first public consultation meeting held by the Australian consulting firm, the Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation (SMEC) in Taunggyi, Shan State.
Myanmar: Shan Villagers and the Salween Dam Fight
The increasing army presence to defend the construction of a controversial Salween river dam in southeastern Myanmar’s Shan state has sparked heightened concerns among rural villagers, who are determined to fight the development that threatens their livelihoods.
Thailand harnessing the Salween River
About 130 km from the Salween River’s mouth is a site longtime identified as the final location suitable for hydropower development on what remains one of Asia’s longest un-dammed rivers.
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 […]
PHOTO ESSAY: The Angry River: A Journey Along Burma’s Pristine Salween
In April 2015, photographer Patrick Brown returned to the lower part of the Salween or Thanlwin River. One of Asia’s great rivers, the Salween presents a placid face as it passes through Hpa-an, the capital of Kayin (Karen) State, close to the end of its 1,750-mile journey from the Tibetan Plateau to the Andaman Sea at Mon State.