Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Websites/Multiple Documents
Description:
Includes sections on the major rivers of Burma
Source/publisher:
Burma Rivers Network
Date of entry/update:
2012-07-19
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Category:
Publications on the environment of Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other projects on the Kaladan and its tributories, Dams and other projects on the Chindwin and its tributories, Dams and other projects on the Irrawaddy and its tributories, Dams and other projects on the Paunglaung and its tributories, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
English
more
Description:
Dam Specifications | Companies Involved | Finance | Project Status | Impacts |
Source/publisher:
Burma Rivers Network
Date of entry/update:
2015-08-05
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
"From its headwaters in the mountains of Tibet to its estuary in Mon State, Burma, the Salween River, known as the Nu River in China and the Thanlwin River in Burma, supports almost 10 million people. As the longest undammed river in mainland Southeast Asia, the Salween River sustains rich fisheries and fertile farmland that are central to the lives of many ethnic minority communities living along its banks.
Seven dams are proposed for the Salween?s mainstream in Burma, which threaten these communities? livelihoods, many of whom are already suffering under Burma?s junta. The dam cascade has been planned in complete secrecy, with no participation from affected communities and no compensation or resettlement plans..."
Source/publisher:
iInternational Rivers
Date of entry/update:
2018-02-02
Grouping:
Websites/Multiple Documents
more
Individual Documents
Description:
"Shan Human Rights Day marks the day in 1997 when the Burma Army massacred 56 villagers in Kunhing, during a brutal scorched earth campaign in which hundreds were killed, and over 400,000 uprooted in central and southern Shan State. We reiterate our calls for justice for those killed then, and all killed since by the military now terrorizing the entire country.
The regime’s scorched earth operations in Shan State over two decades ago were aimed to crush the Shan resistance and seize control of the area’s rich natural resources. Since then, the Burma Army has continuously expanded into Shan State, selling off our lands, forests and rivers to the highest bidder. This process has accelerated since the February 1 coup, and now the generals are pushing through long-held plans to sell off the mighty Salween River, the lifeblood of millions in eastern Burma, to hydropower investors. In May, the regime gave the go-ahead for China’s Hanergy to build the first dam on the Salween, at Kunlong in northern Shan State. 90% of the 1,400 megawatts produced will go to China.
Damming the Salween will be a death knell for our beloved river, its fragile ecosystem and the livelihoods of millions relying on it. We urge all foreign investors to immediately cancel their dam plans, or be complicit not only in the regime’s past and present atrocities to secure the dams, but also in the ecocide they will unleash on eastern Burma. .."
Source/publisher:
Shan Human Rights Foundation
Date of publication:
2021-06-16
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-17
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Shan Human Rights Foundation Monthly Reports, Discrimination against the Shan, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
The Third Pole explores how the military coup will affect Chinese-backed dams along Southeast Asia’s last free-flowing river
Description:
"Plans for seven Chinese-built dams along the Salween River have been a source of friction for Myanmar and China for some time. Prior to the military coup on 1 February, the elected party the National League for Democracy and grassroots campaigners were already locked in conflict. International isolation following the coup may now force the government to move closer to China than it would like, leaving indigenous groups more at risk.
The future of dam building is now in the hands of General Min Aung Hlaing’s military regime. Last week, he met with State Administration Council members and departmental officials in Hpa-an, the state capital of Karen. Along with repeated claims of election fraud, he said that the Hatgyi hydropower plant will be built. He said nothing of the environmental concerns, only that “those objecting [to] the project for various reasons should understand the benefits.”
In response, Saw Kyaw, brigadier general of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, told news website The Irrawaddy: “The entire Karen population oppose the dam. Peace has gone in the area now. If the hydropower project is to be implemented, only our people will suffer.”
The Salween remains Southeast Asia’s longest free-flowing river in a region that has seen frenzied dam-building on the Mekong, upper Yangtze and other major waterways.
It flows 3,289 kilometres from the Tibetan Plateau to the Andaman Sea near Myanmar’s border with Thailand. In China, it is known as the Nu River. Crossing into Myanmar, the Salween, or Thanlwin, snakes through ethnic minority lands in Shan, Kayah, Karen and Mon states. It is an artery for immense biodiversity, providing sustenance for millions of people in Myanmar’s conflict-ridden regions.
The Hatgyi and Mong Ton dams are among the largest of seven mainstream dam projects planned by Chinese and Thai companies on the Salween. The 7,000-megawatt Mong Ton dam in Shan state is sponsored by Thailand’s EGAT and China Three Gorges Corporation, and could become Myanmar’s largest dam. Both Hatgyi and Mong Ton are in the planning stage. They would inundate land that is now home to villagers displaced by conflict in the late 1990s who have been unable to return. The Mong Ton site alone would displace at least 60,000.
Civic protesters silenced
The Save the Salween Network previously organised community resistance along the length of the river, using the International Day of Action for Rivers, 14 March, to amplify the opposition of different regions and ethnic groups in a unified protest. This year, activists along the upper and mid-reaches of the river in Shan state could not hold public events on 14 March.
“In Karen state, the organisation was able to campaign, as it was in the area controlled by KNU [Karen National Union, a political organisation]. In southern Shan state, that would be too risky,” a spokesperson from Save the Salween Network told The Third Pole.
The military coup has brought internet connectivity restrictions, a ban on international money transfers and continuing violence. Save the Salween Network continues to advocate for the river in whatever small ways remain. “Because we are not registered in the official registry, our… organisation is in a better position than others. We are off their radar. Despite this, I am in hiding,” the spokesperson said.
Air strikes have been carried out in the Salween Peace Park, a grassroots conservation and indigenous people’s initiative. In March, Myanmar’s military launched the first air strikes on KNU territory in 20 years after rebels killed 10 soldiers, Reuters reported. Attacks continued through April and May, killing dozens and forcing thousands to flee.
The military government has persisted in its claims of election fraud to little effect. Protests and violence continue across the country in the form of attacks on military positions and assassinations.....Waters rising:The current violence builds on disaffection between ethnic groups and the now-overthrown civilian government. “The NLD was so close to China and they did not share any information on any of the pursued projects,” so “ethnic people lost trust in this party,” the Save the Salween Network spokesperson said.
However, he said he expects the military to continue the dam projects, “not just for the sake of generating electricity, but for the militarisation of the area. The flooded area will destroy the base area of ethnic armed [militias].”
In the past the KNU has expressed strong opposition to dams, which has led to violence between the military, or Tatmadaw, and the KNU.
Some major dam sites, in particular the Hatgyi dam, are on the internal border of KNU-controlled land. This is now the frontline of an escalating conflict.
In Thailand, images have appeared of Tatmadaw camps ablaze from the Myanmar side of the Salween. These appear to confirm KNU claims of a successful 27 April attack. As dam sites become battle grounds, the river’s future depends on the outcome of the fighting along its lower reaches.....Who will build?: Six weeks after the military coup, the French energy company EDF suspended the USD 1.5-billion Shweli 3 hydropower dam project in response to the jailing of NLD leaders and shootings of protesters and journalists. Other international companies are likely to be equally reluctant.
“Much depends on whether the junta manages to establish its effective control of the country,” said Sebastian Strangio, author of In the Dragon’s Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century. He added: “Chinese firms, which are less susceptible to the reputational pressures of Western companies, will gradually move in to fill the vacuum.”
Prior to the coup, U Aung Myint, general secretary of the Myanmar Renewable Energy Association, told The Third Pole: “Honestly, we want the government to cancel the agreements for big hydropower projects such as Myitsone and Tasang, but I think it will not happen for many reasons.”.....Chinese companies feel the heat: The coup drew sanctions from other nations, yet China blocked condemnation at the UN and referred to the violent overthrow of the NLD government as a “cabinet reshuffle”. The comment was unpopular on the streets. The early days of the coup saw violence against Chinese-owned businesses and threats to Chinese-built pipelines, leading to pressure from China for the new military government to protect its assets.
“Violence against Chinese economic interests in Myanmar, including the oil and gas pipelines that bisect the country, would set off alarm bells at the top levels of the Chinese government,” Strangio said. “Of course, any situation in which Chinese economic interests are coming under attack from anti-military protesters would also be one in which China’s hydropower interests would also be vulnerable to attack.”.....Unknown cost: Forgoing large hydropower projects on the mainstream Salween would avoid disruption to sediment distribution, aquatic ecology and local livelihoods, according to a 2018 International Finance Corporation strategic environmental assessment. However, the lack of studies on the Salween means there are many unknowns pertaining to environmental impacts.
“Unfortunately, because we don’t have good baseline or historical data on either the fish or the fisheries, we may never know in quantitative terms what the impacts of the dams are,” said Aaron Koning, a freshwater ecologist and conservation scientist at the Nevada-based Global Water Center.
Koning has spent seven years studying a grassroots network of community fish reserves in the Salween basin, and says hydropower dams could devastate the river’s ecology and fisheries. He worked with communities harvesting eels that migrate to the Indian Ocean to spawn; their life cycle would be upset by the Hatgyi dam, he says.
“We don’t know much about the habitat requirements or migration patterns of most other Salween River fish species, some of which are endemic to the basin and found nowhere else on Earth,” Koning added. In the Mekong, Chinese-built dams have caused deep harm to fisheries.....Ignoring indigenous communities: China and Myanmar have been accused of ignoring ethnic groups when planning dams on the Salween. The people of the conflict-stricken river basin states of Shan, Karen and Kayah states have the most to lose from further hydropower projects. In Thailand, the Salween marks part of the border. Predominantly Karen ethnic communities living along the river, including refugees from Myanmar, rely heavily on its fisheries for nutritional security.
There is little hope civil society can mount a defence of the Salween’s ecology, given the Tatmadaw’s crackdown on dissent with tacit approval from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The NLD had faced calls from local and international environmental groups to halt and suspend dam projects such as those at Myitsone and Mong Ton (locally called Tasang). The military government that has replaced it is unlikely to listen.....Infrastructure versus inclusion: The hydropower plans are promoted as a way of dealing with Myanmar’s low access to electricity. Almost 60% of the population has no access to electricity, and the NLD had planned for nationwide electrification by 2030. A great deal of this was supposed to be from hydropower. Nevertheless local opposition persisted, even though the Salween region is one of those most deprived. Many living on its banks rely on small rooftop solar panels that provide only a few hours of electricity a day.
The National Electrification Plan’s first phase was set to end by mid-2021, U Maung Win, deputy director general of the Department of Rural Development, told The Third Pole prior to the coup, noting plans to provide electricity to 626,757 households in 5,080 villages far from the national grid.
Energy needs in Myanmar are expected to rise 15-17% annually. Although sizeable, Mong Ton would only provide around 10% of its energy output to Myanmar, with Thailand, the main investor, buying the rest. U Aung Myint told The Third Pole that Myanmar already relies on hydropower for more than 60% of its electricity generation.....Marriage of convenience: The Mong Ton and Hatgyi dams – as well as Ywathit, Weigyi and others planned for the Salween – have varying levels of Chinese investment and construction involvement.
The Chinese-funded Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy in Kachin state has been a point of friction between China and Myanmar for more than a decade. The plan would have dammed a sacred river, flooded an area the size of Singapore, displaced thousands of people and devastated both fish and wildlife populations. After much lobbying from environmental and Kachin groups, Myanmar’s democratic government halted the Myitsone project but never cancelled it.
Strangio said that if China believes that the junta will ultimately prevail over the protest movement, “then it will seek to work with the generals to advance long-standing strategic and economic goals in Myanmar.” That will lead the military government, possibly the one institution most suspicious of China, right into the arms of its northern neighbour.
“In that event, continuing international opprobrium would likely force the Tatmadaw into a heavier reliance on China than it would be comfortable with, but if that is the price of staying in power, I suspect the marriage of convenience would hold,” Strangio said..."
Source/publisher:
The Third Pole
Date of publication:
2021-06-08
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
more
Topic:
China, large hydropower dams, limited statehood, Myanmar, Thailand, water governance
Topic:
China, large hydropower dams, limited statehood, Myanmar, Thailand, water governance
Description:
"Introduction: This paper examines how fragmented configura- tions of hybrid governance have emerged in the Salween River basin, and how these are (re) shaping local and transboundary water gover-
nance. With headwaters in the Tibetan plateau, the Salween River1 mainstream flows down through China’s Yunnan Province to Shan,
Karenni, Karen and Mon States in Myanmar, also in part bordering Thailand, and empties into the Andaman Sea. There are at least 16 major ethnic groups and over 10 million people living within
the basin, and access to river-related resources are important for many of them for a range of rural livelihoods (Johnston et al., 2017). Viewing the Salween River as a transboundary commons, we put power relations at the centre of our analysis (Suhardiman et al., 2017a; Miller et al., 2019). This is salient given that in contrast to the adjacent Mekong River, where intergovernmental transboundary cooperation is guided, albeit imperfectly, by the Mekong River Commission (e.g. Kittikhoun and Staubli, 2018), in the case of the Salween River there is not a tri- lateral agreement between the three states. Fur- thermore, throughout the basin there are significant power asymmetries between actors, especially in Myanmar given that political authority is contested over at times overlapping territorial spaces (Götz and Middleton, 2020; Suhardiman et al., 2020).
Overall, we argue that analysing institutional and actor network fragmentation across the basin with a focus on power relations – beyond property relations – is fundamental to understanding the sustenance and/or enclosure of the river as a transboundary commons. Based on this insight, and drawing on the analytical lenses of hybrid governance (Miller et al., 2019) and critical insti-
tutionalism (Cleaver and de Koning, 2015), we suggest that hybrid networks can be strategically engaged – selectively linking state and non-state actors, especially community-based organisations and civil society – to connect parallel decision- making landscapes across scales, both spatially and temporally, with the goal of inclusively
institutionalising the transboundary commons foregrounding social and ecological justice. In this paper we view the transboundary environ-
mental commons beyond the conventional notion that focuses on ‘shared resources and environmental impacts that transcend national
borders’ and that underpins the logic of the insti- tutionalization of transboundary environmental governance between states that may also involve other actors in collective action responses (Hirsch, 2020: 1). Aligned with Hirsch’s (2020: 2) critique and the need ‘to go beyond the country oriented scalar reference of conventional approaches to transboundary environmental governance ...,’ we emphasise the importance of unpacking the nested institutional arrangements,
both formal and informal, the state and non-state actors involved and the power relations between them, to then move beyond a regional/inter- country analytical lens and urge the need for a transboundary environmental commons rooted in grassroots realities of people living along the river and the local commons..."
Source/publisher:
Asia Pacific Viewpoint
Date of publication:
2020-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Assessment of hydropower projects in Burma/Myanmar, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories, Water resources of Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
211.67 KB
Local URL:
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Description:
"Activists yesterday released a 30-minute documentary as part of a campaign against a mega-dam in central Shan State.
The documentary, called Drowning a Thousand Islands, includes local people from the remote Kunhing area voicing their concerns that the proposed Mong Ton hydropower project will irrevocably damage the Salween River.
Last month, the government announced they would continue with hydropower projects along the Salween, sparking fierce opposition from Shan political parties and armed groups.
?We need to preserve the Pang River, a hidden gem of the Salween. This tributary is home to unique aquatic ecosystems. The Mong Ton project will destroy this wonderful natural heritage area,” said Sai Khur Hseng, an environmental activist.
According to Action for Shan State Rivers, the film took six months to make.
The Kunhing area of central Shan has been off-limits for years due to ethnic conflicts. From 1996-1998, the Tatmadaw engaged in a scorched earth campaign in the region, displacing over 300,000 people in central Shan and killing hundreds in Kunhing..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2016-09-29
Date of entry/update:
2016-09-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
"A new documentary film launched by Action for Shan State Rivers (On 28 Sept 2016) reveals the unique natural beauty of the ?Thousand Island” area along the Pang River tributary of the Salween, currently threatened by plans to build the giant Mong Ton dam in southern Shan State, Burma.
The film, ?Drowning a Thousand Islands,” takes viewers into the remote Kunhing area of central Shan State, out of bounds for decades due to the ongoing conflict. Drone footage provides bird?s eye panoramas of hitherto unseen waterfalls, rapids and ancient temples nestled among the countless islands in the Pang river.
Local farmers and fisherfolk recount the area?s rich cultural history, and the devastating impacts of the Burma Army?s scorched earth campaigns over a decade ago, evidence of which is shown in rare archival footage. Refugees who fled to Thailand at that time, and still dare not return, are also interviewed."
Source/publisher:
Action for Shan State Rivers via Youtube
Date of publication:
2016-09-28
Date of entry/update:
2016-09-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
Shan (Burmese sub-titles)
more
Description:
"A new documentary film launched by Action for Shan State Rivers (28 Sept 2016) reveals the unique natural beauty of the ?Thousand Island” area along the Pang River tributary of the Salween, currently threatened by plans to build the giant Mong Ton dam in southern Shan State.
The film, ?Drowning a Thousand Islands,” takes viewers into the remote Kunhing area of central Shan State, out of bounds for decades due to the ongoing conflict. Drone footage provides bird?s eye panoramas of hitherto unseen waterfalls, rapids and ancient temples nestled among the countless islands in the Pang river.
Local farmers and fisherfolk recount the area?s rich cultural history, and the devastating impacts of the Burma Army?s scorched earth campaigns over a decade ago, evidence of which is shown in rare archival footage. Refugees who fled to Thailand at that time, and still dare not return, are also interviewed..."
Source/publisher:
Action for Shan State Rivers via Youtube
Date of publication:
2016-09-28
Date of entry/update:
2016-09-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
Shan, English sub-titles
more
Description:
"The Thai government?s recent push to speed up its energy investment in Myanmar?s Salween River contradicts its own efforts to warn Thai investors from operating overseas projects that violate human rights. A number of hydropower dams proposed for the Salween River, and co-invested in by the state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) and companies in China and Myanmar, would force tens of thousands of ethnic minorities to leave their homes and undermine the current peace process in Myanmar. In May this year, the Thai government issued a cabinet resolution proposing measures that would require Thai investors to adhere to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights wherever they
operate overseas. The UN framework specifically highlights the threats to human rights posed by investment in conflict zones. But early this week, Thailand?s permanent secretary for energy Areepong Bhoocha-oom, said the Ministry of Energy planned to meet its Myanmar counterpart to discuss the country?s investment in proposed hydropower projects on the Salween River, along with a coal-fired power plant in the southern town of Myeik. The Salween River, known as Thanlwin in Myanmar, is one of Asia?s last largely free-flowing rivers, running from China, through to Myanmar and Thailand. It is also the site of a planned cascade of six massive dams, including the Mong Ton Dam in Shan State and Hat Gyi Dam in Karen State. The majority of the electricity will be sold to Thailand..."
Pianporn Deetes
Source/publisher:
"Bangkok Post"
Date of publication:
2016-09-29
Date of entry/update:
2016-09-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
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Description:
"We are strongly opposed to any dams on the free-flowing Salween River, a vital artery sustaining
millions of ethnic people in eastern Burma. Any blockage to its mighty flow would have far-reaching
environmental and social impacts. However, the general perception in central Burma appears to be that
the Salween is at a remote edge of the country, and dams will have little impact. In particular there is
little public knowledge about the Salween in ?remote” northeastern Shan State. We therefore wish to
highlight some specific concerns about the Naung Pha Dam as follows:..."
Source/publisher:
Action for Shan State Rivers
Date of publication:
2016-08-23
Date of entry/update:
2016-08-25
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, Shan, Burmese, Thai
more
Description:
"...We are writing to express our great concern at your government?s announcement on August 12 that you will proceed with hydropower dams on the Salween river, as the best option to meet Burma?s energy needs.
The Salween is a vital artery for millions of ethnic people in eastern Burma, Thailand and China, who will be irreparably impacted by blockage of its mighty flow. There has been consistent opposition to the Salween dams by communities in Shan, Karenni, Karen and Mon States, as well as other parts of Burma and neighbouring countries.
We wish to remind you that the Salween river basin has been a conflict area for decades, where the Burma Army has been relentlessly expanding and committing systematic atrocities against villagers in its attempts to control ethnic lands and resources. Pushing ahead with these unpopular dams will inevitably lead to more Burma Army militarization, increased conflict, and ongoing atrocities..."
Source/publisher:
26 Shan community groups
Date of publication:
2016-08-17
Date of entry/update:
2016-08-18
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
97.45 KB 152.11 KB
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Description:
"The Karenni, one of Burma?s main ethnic
groups, have been suffering for over half a
century from military aggression and abuses by
successive ruling juntas. Now they are facing a
new threat: the damming of rivers across their
state by Chinese investors.
In January 2010, the state-owned Datang Corporation of China
signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Burma?s regime to
build three dams in Karenni State, including a 600 Megawatt dam
on the mainstream Salween, and two others on its tributaries, the
Pawn and Thabet rivers.
Plans by Chinese and Thai companies to build dams on the
Salween in Burma have been highly controversial for years for
their human costs and potential environmental impact. The seven
planned dams are all sited in confl ict zones; dam workers have
been killed by land mines and artillery. Military offensives in the
area of the southernmost planned dam have recently caused
thousands of refugees to fl ee to Thailand.
In Karenni State, engineers guarded by armed soldiers are
currently surveying for both the Ywathit Dam on the Salween
and the Pawn River Dam. The Pawn Dam is likely to be built fi rst
to power construction at Ywathit and will be devastating for the
Yintale people who live along the Pawn River and now number
just 1,000..."
Source/publisher:
Karenni Development Research Group (KDRG)
Date of publication:
2010-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2016-02-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.45 MB 2 MB
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Description:
"The Karenni, one of Burma?s main ethnic groups, have been suffering for over half a century from military aggression and abuses by successive ruling juntas. Now they are facing a new threat: the damming of rivers across their state by Chinese investors. In January 2010, the state-owned Datang Corporation of China signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Burma?s regime to build three dams in Karenni State, including a 600 Megawatt dam on the mainstream Salween, and two others on its tributaries, the Pawn and Thabet rivers. Plans by Chinese and Thai companies to build dams on the Salween in Burma have been highly controversial for years for their human costs and potential environmental impact. The seven planned dams are all sited in confl ict zones; dam workers have been killed by land mines and artillery. Military offensives in the area of the southernmost planned dam have recently caused thousands of refugees to fl ee to Thailand. In Karenni State, engineers guarded by armed soldiers are currently surveying for both the Ywathit Dam on the Salween and the Pawn River Dam. The Pawn Dam is likely to be built fi rst to power construction at Ywathit and will be devastating for the Yintale people who live along the Pawn River and now number just 1,000..."
Source/publisher:
Karenni Development Research Group (KDRG)
Date of publication:
2010-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2016-02-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.34 MB 1.8 MB
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Description:
Abstract: "Land grabbing by foreign governments and international companies is on the rise. Faced by population growth
and an ever-decreasing availability of useable/affordable land in populace states, many are looking to buy land where it is
available, predominantly for agricultural and industrial purposes. But land alone is not sufficient for either of these uses.
The availability of useable water resources is also a prerequisite to each land purchase. To buy land is to own its green
water and have access to any blue water available to it. The development of hydropower projects, however, endeavours to
buy the use of blue water, and must also come with a purchase/lease of the surrounding lands. Thus, it can also be seen as a
type of ?water grabbing?. Where the locally affected, vulnerable, pre-existing stakeholders are against the project and the
loss of livelihood and rights it engenders, a hydropower project may be labelled as a vehicle for water and land grabbing.
For an international river, a part of a shared basin, the water grabbing affects stakeholders living under various political
regimes and with disparate local power relations. The effects of the project on both sides of a border may be the same;
however, the manner in which the two governments handle the effects will be different. The Case of the Hatgyi Dam
development on the Salween River, a joint project between China, Myanmar and Thailand, is an example of the above. As a
controversial dam being built on an international, border river, the Hatgyi Dam case study exemplifies many of the issues to
be found in similar developments across the developing world."
E. Zerrouk
Source/publisher:
Journal of Water Resources and Ocean Science. Vol. 2, No. 5, 2013, pp. 68-78
Date of publication:
2013-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2016-02-29
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
309.73 KB 402.65 KB
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Description:
Australian involvement and
the Shan?s resistance: "SMEC, an Australian-based services
company that morphed out of the Snowy
Mountains Engineering Corporation, was
recently handed a petition containing
23,717 signatures opposing a giant dam on
the upper Salween River at Mong Ton that
would effectively divide Myanmar?s warshocked
Shan state in half. It was not the
first time it had been told the idea stinks.
Undeterred, SMEC went back to the
protest ing villages and continued its work.
Later the Burma Army took five protesters,
later releasing them. Some were beaten
and slapped.
SMEC is the public face of a consortium
planning the dam. Its task, conducting the
Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (EIAs and SIAs), takes it into
potentially affected villages. SMEC finds
itself heroically taking one for the gang: the
disaster-prone Three Gorges Corporation;
Sinohydro, which has been involved in
several controversial dam projects in the
past; the Myanmar Electricity Power
Enterprise; and state energy monopsony
Thai Electricity Generating Authority.
There are rumours that a UK team of
engineers, Malcolm Dunstan and Associates
—involved in dam building in Myanmar in
the past and, because of human-rights
violations on the sites, placed on the UK
Burma Campaign?s ?Dirty Company? list—
might also be involved, but those could
not be substantiated.
SMEC has been meeting the people of Shan
state, seeking agreement to build the Tasang
dam at Mong Ton. It has faced serial
rejection (a story detailing that rejection,
with a critique of SMEC?s procedures, was
removed from Asian Correspondent after
legal threats from SMEC). Meetings have
been cancelled due to local hostility. Shan
women have risen to their feet, their voices
rich and challenging, telling the SMEC
representatives that, having survived years
of war, they refuse to let their ancestral lands be drowned to produce unneeded electricity for China
and Thailand..."
Melody Kemp
Date of publication:
2015-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2016-01-31
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
170.69 KB
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Description:
Introduction: "This
might
refer
to
our
relationship
with
the
environment
just
as
well
as
to
that
between
a
man
and
a
woman.
Our
relationship
with
the
environment
requires
careful
attention
for
we
must
take
care
of
it
if
we
want
it
to
reciprocate.
Around
the
globe
today,
that
relationship
is
being
challenged.
We
are
here
in
a
wondrous
and
wonderful
part
of
the
world.
This
sketch
of
Asia?s
major
rivers
flowing
down
from
the
Tibetan
plateau
illustrates
just
how
central
our
location
is,
both
geographically
and
in
terms
of
the
hundreds
of
millions
of
human
lives
and
other
biological
phenomena
impacted
by
the
flow
of
these
waters.
The
river
of
concern
for
me
today
is
the
Salween,
in
some
locations
called
the
Nu Jiang
or
the
Thanlwin.
Lately
my
focus
has
been
on
Myanmar
(Burma)
and
its
current
struggles
to
emerge
form
a
long
period
of
difficult
political
and
economic
conditions.
Many,
dare
I
say
all
of
us,
desire
to
help
this
great
country
to
achieve
higher
levels
of
prosperity
and
sustainable
well-being.
One
focal
point
for
many
has
become
the
Salween..."
.....Paper delivered at the International
Conference
on
Burma/Myanmar
Studies:
Burma/Myanmar
in
Transition:
Connectivity,
Changes
and
Challenges:
University
Academic
Service
Centre
(UNISERV),
Chiang
Mai
University,
Thailand, 24-25
July
2015
James Lin Compton
Source/publisher:
International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-25 July 2015
Date of publication:
2015-07-25
Date of entry/update:
2015-08-06
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Publications on the environment of Burma/Myanmar, Preservation of the environment in Burma/Myanmar, Hydropower projects, Dams and other hydropower projects (global, regional), Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories, International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies (ICBMS) 23-26 July, 2015
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
85.38 KB
more
Description:
Dam specifications | Companies Involved | Finance | Project Status | Impacts | EIA....."The Upper Thanlwin Dam is one of five dams planned on the Salween River in eastern Burma. In April 2007, two Chinese companies signed an MOU with the Burmese government for an ?Upper Thanlwin” dam in northern Shan State..."
Source/publisher:
Burma Rivers Watch
Date of publication:
2008-08-18
Date of entry/update:
2015-08-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
The Tasang Dam is the biggest of the five proposed for the Salween River. If built it will be the highest dam in Southeast Asia, taller than China?s massive Three Gorges Dam. Burma?s military regime initially signed deals with Thailand?s MDX Group for implementation of the Tasang Dam in Shan State. Amidst rumors of dissatisfaction with MDX, the China Gezhouba Group Co. won a contract for initial dam construction in early 2007. In mid-2008, Sinohydro, China Southern Power Grid Co., and China Three Gorges Project Corporation signed an agreement for the development of the Salween River Basin in Burma, mentioning the Tasang Dam in particular.{highslide type="img" url="maps/salweendams.jpg" width=150 display=none}
[Click to enlarge the map]
Click to enlarge the map
{/highslide}
Dam Specifications
Height: 228 meters
Installed capacity: 7,110 MW
Annual production: 35,446 Ghw
Location: Mong Ton township, Northern Shan Stat...."
Source/publisher:
Burma Rivers Network
Date of publication:
2008-00-00
Date of entry/update:
2015-08-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"The Snowy Mountains Engineering Corp has the tough task of carrying out the environmental assessment for a Myanmar dam that?s opposed by local communities...The Snowy Mountains Engineering Corp has defended its role in drawing up an environmental impact assessment report for a controversial dam in Myanmar that faces strong local resistance.
The 7,000 megawatt dam on the Salween River in eastern Myanmar is backed by Chinese, Myanmar and Thai companies, and will flood 676 square kilometres of low-lying farmland and forest.
The dam, in eastern Shan State, is being funded by China Three Gorges Corporation and Thailand?s Electricity Generating Authority, and is also known as the Mong Ton Hydropower Project.
Despite strong resistance from local communities SMEC says it is undertaking the environmental and social impact assessments (EIA/SIA) and adhering to international best practice..."
Source/publisher:
AAP
Date of publication:
2015-08-04
Date of entry/update:
2015-08-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Planned hydropower projects on the Thanlwin river are still in the early stages, according to Ministry of Electric Power officials, disputing claims in Thai media that a memorandum of understanding for one project will be signed later this year.
Thai newspaper The Nation reported on July 15 that Thailand, Myanmar and China are to sign a memorandum of understanding to develop a 7000 megawatt project on the upper Thanlwin at Mong Ton, citing Thai energy minister Narongchai Akrasanee.
The article said Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand International and China?s Three Gorges would both hold 40 percent stakes, while the Myanmar government would hold the remaining 20pc.
The plan was for 10pc of the output to kept in Myanmar and 90pc exported to Thailand, the article said.
However, Myanmar authorities said projects on the Thanlwin ? also known as the Salween ? river have been delayed for a number of reasons, with several memorandums of understanding already signed but little progress having been made..."
Aung Shin
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times"
Date of publication:
2015-07-17
Date of entry/update:
2015-08-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"When the government in Naypyidaw looks at the Salween River and other rivers in Burma, they don?t see their beauty: they see Thai baht, Chinese yuan, US dollars and Indian rupees.
For them, the rivers flowing through the lands of our ethnic communities are nothing more than a potential source of revenue. Not revenue for local people, but for the central government: they want to dam our rivers, sell most of the energy they generate to neighboring countries, and keep the money for themselves. This money will be partly used to continue the modernization of the Burmese military, which is expanding its presence in the country?s ethnic hinterlands and still committing human rights abuses. We ethnic peoples will still be sitting in the dark, and paying for our own repression...Economically, politically and environmentally, dams are not the right choice for Burma. They will continue to provoke conflict, human rights abuses, environmental destruction, and increased marginalization and impoverishment of affected communities. They will not help the development of our country; they will hinder it. Rather than selling our rivers in return for a meager financial reward, our country needs a long-term energy policy based on clean, renewable energy."
Hsa Moo
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2015-03-16
Date of entry/update:
2015-03-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
"Time may be running out for Southeast Asia?s last major undammed river - the Salween, also known as the Nu in China and Thanlwin in Myanmar, which originates high in the mountains of Tibet and flowing south for 2,800 kilometers through the east of Myanmar into the Andaman Sea. There are plans to construct 19 dams along the length of the river and its tributaries.
While visions of harnessing the river for hydropower are decades old, various setbacks including vocal opposition from environmental and human rights groups - over a dozen ethnic minority groups live along the river?s banks - as well as ongoing
conflict in Myanmar?s restive eastern states, have so far prevented their realization.
This could be set to change with the riparian governments? increasing determination to bring the dream to fruition..."
Alec Forss
Source/publisher:
Asia Times Online
Date of publication:
2015-01-21
Date of entry/update:
2015-02-01
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
This News Bulletin provides an update on the Hatgyi Dam{Utgyi Dam}project in Bu Tho Township, Hpapun District between December 2011 and May 2013. During this period, the company in charge of the dam?s construction held consultation meetings with the affected community to explain the benefits of the project, such as the provision of electricity generated by hydro-power, but also explained that approximately 300 or 400 villagers in certain areas would need to be relocated due to the flooding that would occur during construction. This bulletin highlights local concerns related to the consultation process carried out by the company. In one meeting that had been facilitated by a local Border Guard Force commander, a presentation about the project was delivered by representatives from the dam construction company in Burmese, which could not be fully understood by the Karen-speaking attendees. One villager also stated that, if necessary, they would relocate downriver of the dam in Hpa-an District, while the company designated a different area in Bago town for relocation. Villagers reported that they felt they could not oppose the KNU?s approval of the project, while the BGF commander informed KHRG that the consent of the local community is necessary.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2014-06-27
Date of entry/update:
2014-12-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
691.48 KB
more
Description:
This News Bulletin describes concerns raised by villagers In Paingkyon and Nabu townships regarding the planned construction of a dam, logging activities, problems related to increased drug use in local communities and the lack of a complaints mechanism by which to raise these concerns with leaders of local armed actors. Villagers living near the site of a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Pa Ta River have raised serious concerns regarding the project?s potentially huge environmental and other impacts, and say they have not been properly informed or consulted about the plans. They fear that if construction of the dam goes ahead, homes, land vital for livelihoods and religious sites will be destroyed, affecting approximately 40 villages. Villagers also reported that the wide spread sale and use of drugs has led to a number of problems, such as addiction and mental health issues, poverty and drug related violence. In response, thousands of villagers held consultation meetings and launched a petition calling on the leaders of local armed actors to work together to address their concerns.
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
Date of publication:
2014-07-14
Date of entry/update:
2014-12-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories, Dams and other projects on other rivers and their tributories
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
597.66 KB 2.73 MB
more
Description:
"...Sob Moei is located 47 kms (30 miles) upstream from the site of the long-planned 1,360-megawatt Hatgyi dam in Burma.
Environmental activists say Hatgyi, aimed at harnessing the power of the Salween, Southeast Asia?s second longest river, could displace thousands of people, block fish migration routes and reduce the food and jobs on which riverine people depend.
Communities in the area are already marginalized—many are poor, uneducated ethnic and religious minorities living in remote places.
General Baw Kyaw Heh, KNLA?s vice chief of staff, has said the Burmese troop deployment to the area threatens to derail peace negotiations between the government and ethnic armed groups.
Burmese also object to the fact that most of the electricity to be generated will go to Thailand, leaving little for energy-starved Burma.
Hatgyi is being developed jointly by Chinese, Thai and Burmese investors, including the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and IGE, a Burmese company dealing in timber, oil, gas and mining..."
Thin Lei Win, rEITERS
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy"
Date of publication:
2014-12-05
Date of entry/update:
2014-12-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Language:
English
more
Description:
General Ner Dah Bo Mya, the head of the Karen National Defence Organisation told Karen News that armed conflict this month in Burma is linked to plans to build hydropower dams on the Salween River. In an exclusive interview General Ner Dah explains to Karen News why he has placed his troops are on high alert.
General Ner Dah said that fighting between the government?s militia, the Border guard Force and the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA) has sent warning signals to the Karen armed groups that the government is planning to reinforce it military in the region.
?The current situation that we have in our area right now is that we have to be alert because there are fighting between BGF and the DKBA. We have to be alert because we can see that the Burmese [army] are reinforcing their military in most of their base camps that are also close to our base camps.”
General Ner Dah said that his organization is aware that the government intends to clamp down on any opposition to its plans to build ?development projects? in Karen State...
Source/publisher:
Karen News
Date of publication:
2014-10-24
Date of entry/update:
2014-10-30
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports
Language:
English
more
Description:
"In late February 2013, Burma?s Deputy Minister
of Electric Power informed Parliament that six
dam projects on the Salween River in Shan State,
Kayah State (Karenni) and Karen State had gained
approval. With a combined installed capacity of
15,000 MW, the projects will include the Upper
Salween or Kunlong Dam, Mai Tong or Tasang
Dam, Nong Pha Dam, Mantawng Dam (on a
tributary), Ywathit Dam, and Hatgyi Dam. The
investment will come from five Chinese
corporations, Thailand?s Electricity Generation
Authority of Thailand (EGAT) International Co.
Ltd and three Burmese corporations.
Originating in the Tibetan Himalayas, the Salween
River
fl
ows for 2,800 kilometers through China?s
Yunnan province, into Burma and Thailand, and
down to the Andaman Sea. One of the last largely
Current Status of Dam Projects on
Burma?s
Salween River
free-
fl
owing rivers in the world, the Salween River
boasts one of the richest ecological hubs in the
region and is home to at least 13 indigenous groups
including the Nu, Lisu, Shan, Karen, Pa-o, Karenni
and Mon.
Over the past decade, numerous dam projects have
been planned on the Salween River: thirteen in the
upper reaches of the Salween in China, and six
along the lower reaches in Burma and along the
Thailand-Burma border.
The projects in Burma are proceeding in areas
where conflict is continuing between ethnic
resistance forces and the Burmese Army, and are
shrouded in secrecy. Salween Watch has compiled
available information about these projects in this
brief update..."
Source/publisher:
Salween Watch
Date of publication:
2013-03-13
Date of entry/update:
2013-03-24
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories, Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide)
Language:
English, Thai
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
609.38 KB 718.72 KB
more
Description:
"Far from the public spotlight in northeast Burma lies Shan
State, home to indigenous groups, diverse forests and
animals, and Southeast Asia?s longest undammed river,
the Salween.
In this remote zone of civil war and conflict over resources, the
Burmese military and an energy company from Thailand are
developing the Tasang Dam, slated to be the tallest dam in
Southeast Asia. Given the Burmese regime?s predilection for
violence and disregard for human rights and environmental
standards, the Tasang Dam, if built, would provoke forced labor,
forced relocations, environmental destruction, and suppression
of dissent. To date, public participation has been absent surrounding
the project, and forced labor and portering have already been
linked to the project and its security. The Tasang Dam project
would be not only destructive but entirely unnecessary, a boondoggle
that would benefit the Burmese generals and a few private
companies while doing nothing to provide for the needs and
aspirations of the people of Burma or Thailand.
An inspiring resistance to the Tasang Dam in Burma is active,
if underground, despite the notorious repression of the Burmese
military regime. It is not too late to stop the Tasang Dam. It is
not to late to save the Salween..."
Source/publisher:
EarthRights International
Date of publication:
2003-05-07
Date of entry/update:
2012-07-11
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
English
more
Description:
BURMA ARMY ATROCITIES PAVE THE WAY FOR SALWEEN DAMS IN KAREN STATE... "As Thailand proceeds with plans to join Burma?s military regime in building a series of dams on the Salween River to gain ?cheap? electricity, this report reveals the atrocities being inflicted on the people of Northern Karen State to pave the way for two of the planned dams. The Upper Salween (Wei Gyi) Dam and Lower Salween (Dar Gwin) Dam are planned to be built on the river where it forms the border between Thailand?s Mae Hong Son province and Burma?s Karen State. Together they will produce about 5,300 MW of electricity. It is estimated that the reservoir for the Upper Dam will stretch for 380 kilometers inside Karen and Karenni States of Burma. Both dams are located at the eastern edge of Papun district in Karen State. Once a Karen liberated area, during the last decade Papun has been the site of repeated military offensives and anti-insurgency campaigns by the regime?s troops to crush the Karen resistance. Before 1992, there were only ten Burma Army garrisons in Papun district. Today there are fifty-four garrisons, including twelve along the Salween river bank, fortified with heavy artillery. The military campaigns have decimated the local population. 210 villages have been destroyed, and villagers forcibly relocated to 31 relocation sites, where movement has been strictly controlled, and villagers are subject to forced labour and other human rights abuses. Tens of thousands of villagers have fled to Thailand as refugees; others live in hiding in the jungle, where they live in constant fear of being found and tortured or killed. In 1992, there were estimated to be about 107,000 people in Papun district. Now this has been halved to about 54,000, of whom about 35,000, or 60%, are internally displaced in the jungles. The rest have fled to Thailand or other parts of Burma. Out of 85 original villages in the mountainous area of Eastern Papun directly adjoining the planned dam sites, only a quarter remain. Most of the communities who had farmed and traded along the Salween River have fled to Thailand, and many farms in the fertile tributary valleys have been lying fallow for over a decade. Over 5,000 villagers remain hiding in the jungle, facing severe food shortages and health problems. Roads to the planned dam sites have been built using forced labour, and landmines have been planted alongside the roads. There has been no consultation with local communities about the dam plans. If the dams are built, the floodwaters will permanently displace many of the communities currently in hiding or living as refugees in Thailand. The increased military security for the dam sites will also inevitably mean further abuses against local populations. The Salween dams fit into the ongoing strategy of the Burmese military regime to use ?development? projects to gain funding and collusion from neighbouring countries to subjugate ethnic resistance movements, and exploit the natural resources in the ethnic areas. Karen Rivers Watch makes the following recommendations:..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Rivers Watch
Date of publication:
2004-11-00
Date of entry/update:
2012-02-23
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Internal displacement/forced migration of Karen villagers, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
Burmese
Format :
pdf
Size:
1.43 MB
Local URL:
more
Description:
Statement by the Karenni Development Research Group (KDRG)
Karenni people oppose new Salween dam plans by SPDC and Chinese investors
Source/publisher:
Burma Rivers Network
Date of publication:
2010-08-09
Date of entry/update:
2010-09-20
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
Burmese, English
more
Description:
?The report ?Roots and Resilience” by the Shan Sapawa Environment Organization focuses on the ecologically unique area of Keng Kham, a community of 15,000 that was forcibly relocated over ten years ago; the majority have fled to Thailand. Today the estimated 3,000 that remain are managing to maintain their livelihoods and culture despite the constant threats of the Burma Army and the impending Tasang dam.
Indigenous Shan cultural practices, river-fed farms, sacred cave temples and pristine waterfalls are depicted in photos from this isolated war-zone, together with updated information about the dam project, which has been shrouded in secrecy.
The 7,110 MW Tasang Dam is the biggest of five dams planned on the Salween River; the majority of the power from the dam will be sold to Thailand. Project investors include the Thai MDX Company and China?s Gezhouba Group Company.
Thailand?s support for the controversial dam was recently reiterated when the project was included in its national Power Development Plan.
Military tension has escalated in recent months in Shan State as the Burmese regime has been putting pressure on the United Wa State Army to transform into a ?Border Guard Force.” Abuses linked to anti-insurgency campaigns are also on the rise.?
Source/publisher:
Shan Sapawa Environmental Organization
Date of publication:
2009-07-00
Date of entry/update:
2009-10-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and rivers - articles, reports, resources, Burma/Myanmar: "Development"-induced displacement, Forced relocation of Palaung, Shan and Wa, Internal displacement/forced migration of Shan. Palaung and Wa villagers, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories, Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide)
Language:
English, Thai
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
1.79 MB 4.67 MB
more
Description:
Summary: "
The Salween is Southeast Asia?s longest free flowing river and one of Burma?s most important waterways. For the half a million people living where the river meets the Andaman Sea, the Salween is a way of life interlinked with its seasonal flows and daily tides. However, Burma?s military dictatorship, together with Thai and Chinese investors, is moving ahead with plans to dam the Salween. The communities living downstream have not been informed or consulted about the dam plans or their potential impacts, even though their lives stand to be permanently altered.
This report describes the unique geography and ecology of the downstream estuary, where salt water meets fresh and the mainstream Salween and its two main tributaries are tidal for up to 75 kilometers inland. Numerous islands, some of them seasonal and some of them culturally sacred, are rich with fertile sediment that flows down the Salween each year. The delicate mix of salt and fresh water created by the seasonal flow of the river and the rise and fall of the tides determines daily life. Local people collect fresh water at high tide and store it in community pools for drinking and household use, and manage a system of canals to irrigate fields with fresh water and protect crops from salt water. In this way, villages subsist and provide farm produce to the capital city of Mon State and the five townships at the mouth of the Salween.
Natural seasonal floods irrigate and replenish fields, and support the migration of fish species that use flooded habitats as spawning grounds before returning to the sea. Fisher folk carefully follow the migration patterns of countless species to make their catch and provide fish paste, one of the essential ingredients of Mon food. Wild plants that grow in the unique mix of salt and fresh water of the estuary are used as medicines and food.
If the dams are built, the downstream effects, as studied elsewhere in the world, stand to alter the lives of over half a million people. These effects include altered river flows that cause higher concentrations of salt water to travel further inland. Changes in water quality, salinity, or seasonal flows are likely to make community water pools undrinkable and affect agricultural crops. Sudden and unnatural water surges increase erosion, destroy islands, and make the river dangerous to local communities. In addition, the decreased amount of sediment reaching downstream damages agriculture. A decline in fish catches due to interrupted migrations will impact the protein source of the local diet. Any one of these changes to the river would tip the balance fine-tuned over generations between self-reliant communities and their environment. Lastly, the proposed dams lie on active earthquake fault lines; dam breaks would be a disaster.
Yet, despite all these concerns and potential problems, those living downstream have not even been informed of the project and unknown to them, their future is left hanging in the balance. The suppression of free media and arrests, beatings, and extra-judicial killings of anyone that challenges the regime in Burma make it impossible to access adequate information or to question the projects. Any dam project needs to take into consideration the social and environmental impacts on those living downstream and, most importantly, allow for their informed consent. This is impossible under the military dictatorship in Burma. The Mon Youth Progressive Organization therefore calls on all parties to halt their investments and stop the Salween dam projects."
Source/publisher:
Mon Youth Progressive Organization
Date of publication:
2007-05-00
Date of entry/update:
2007-05-07
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories, Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide)
Language:
English, Burmese, Thai, Chinese.
Format :
pdf pdf pdf pdf pdf pdf pdf
Size:
622.89 KB 743.36 KB 1.02 MB 1.14 MB 920 KB 974.75 KB 81.74 KB
Local URL:
MYPO-2007-05-In-the-Balance-Salween_dams_threaten_downstream_communities-red-en.pdf- MYPO-2007-05-In-the-Balance-Salween_dams_threaten_downstream_communities-en.pdf
- MYPO-2007-05-In-the-Balance-Salween_dams_threaten_downstream_communities-red-bu.pdf
- MYPO-2007-05-In-the-Balance-Salween_dams_threaten_downstream_communities-bu.pdf
- MYPO-2007-05-In-the-Balance-Salween_dams_threaten_downstream_communities-red-Thai.pdf
- MYPO-2007-05-In-the-Balance-Salween_dams_threaten_downstream_communities-Thai.pdf
- MYPO-2007-05-In-the-Balance-Salween_dams_threaten_downstream_communities-chinese.pdf
more
Description:
"The Salween river basin is more than twice the size of England, the second largest river basin in southeast Asia and one of the last free-flowing international rivers in Asia..."
Source/publisher:
WWF
Date of publication:
2007-03-22
Date of entry/update:
2007-03-22
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and rivers - articles, reports, resources, Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
English
Format :
pdf
Size:
37.57 KB
Local URL:
more
Description:
A new report ?Warning Signs: An update on plans to dam the Salween in Burmas Shan State” by the Shan Sapawa Organization launched today details how preparations for a giant hydropower dam at Tasang on the Salween River in southern Shan State have been continuing. Among the four dams being planned on the Salween River, preparations for the Tasang Dam, 130 kms north of Chiang Mai, are the most advanced.
The report, reveals how, despite a dearth of public information about the dam plans, the Thai contracting company MDX has been building roads, staff buildings and local power generating facilities near the site of the 228-meter-high dam, which will have the largest installed capacity as well as being the tallest in Southeast Asia.
The dam site is located in the main area of conflict in Shan State. In the past ten years, the Burma Army has tripled the number of battalions around Tasang, and over 60,000 villagers have been forcibly relocated from areas adjoining the dam site and the projected flood zone. Villagers found in hiding have been tortured, raped and killed. The majority have fled to Thailand.
In lieu of consultation with the remaining villagers in the flood zone, MDX have simply been hiring doctors to provide health services to villagers south of the dam-site along the proposed route of the electricity transmission lines to Thailand.
MDX signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Burmese Department of Hydroelectric Power in April 2006 for joint development of a 7,110 megawatt dam at Tasang at an estimated cost of US$6 billion.
Sapawa is urging an immediate end to the Tasang dam project. ?We want the Thai government and Thai investors to stop supporting a project which will permanently displace thousands of our people, including Shan refugees in Thailand who will have no home to return to,” said Sapawa spokesperson Sai Sai.
Source/publisher:
Shan Sapawa Environmental organisation (Sapawa) via Burma Rivers Network
Date of publication:
2006-09-15
Date of entry/update:
2006-09-21
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
English
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
731.04 KB 871.1 KB
more
Description:
Wasser in S?dostasien, Konflikte um Wassernutzung, Pak Mun Staudamm, Nam Theun II Damm, Salween Staudammprojekt; Water in Southeast Asia, Salween Dam
Yvonne Klöpper
Source/publisher:
S?dostasien Informationsstelle Asienhaus
Date of publication:
2006-01-01
Date of entry/update:
2006-08-10
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
Deutsch, German
more
Description:
"
Threatened with plans by Burma?s generals to dam the Salween River and submerge vast tracts of their homelands, the Karenni are releasing a new report today which exposes the parallels between the devastating impacts of Burma?s first large scale hydropower project, built in their state, and those of the planned Salween dams. The report highlights the destructive mix of development and military rule in Burma.
The report by the Karenni Development Research Group (KDRG), Dammed by Burma?s Generals, chronicles the impacts of the Lawpita hydropower project since the early 1960s. Promised abundant electricity and irrigation, the local population instead suffered from forced displacement, water shortages, increased militarization, human rights abuses, and thousands of landmines planted to secure the project. Most of the power was sent directly to Rangoon; still today 80% of the Karenni are without electricity.
One of four dams planned for the Salween, the Weigyi Dam, will flood over 640 square kilometers in Karenni State, submerging an area three times the size of the Lawpita reservoir. The report details how twenty-eight towns and villages, including a historical capital of the Karenni, will be inundated, impacting approximately 30,000 people. An entire tribe ? the Yintalai, who now number a mere 1,000 ? will permanently lose all their homelands. Irreversible environmental damage will be caused by inundation of forests internationally recognized for their outstanding biodiversity.
Under an agreement signed in December 2005 between Thailand and Burma?s regime, construction on the Salween dams is slated to begin in 2007. With likely investment from China, the dams will provide electricity for Thailand and revenue for the ruling military regime.
As Pascal Khoo Thwe, the Karenni author of From the Land of Green Ghosts says in his foreword to the report: ?There is no better way to destroy a country than by the combined power of bulldozers and guns.”
Civil war continues in Karenni State, leaving an estimated one third of the population internally displaced and over 22,000 Karenni refugees registered in camps in Thailand. If the Salween dams go ahead, many of these people will never be able to return home.
The report urges that the Salween dam projects be scrapped. As KDRG researcher Aung Ngeh states: ?We know from bitter experience what hydropower development means under a military dictatorship. It is not about electricity or irrigation for the people. It is about subjugation and control. The Salween dams will mean more soldiers, more landmines, and the gradual annihilation of our people.”"
Source/publisher:
Karenni Development Research Group
Date of publication:
2006-03-14
Date of entry/update:
2006-03-14
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination against the Karenni (Kayah), Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
English
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Description:
"...After years of speculation, the Royal Thai Government and the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military regime ruling Burma, appear poised to begin major construction on a series of large hydro-powered dams in the Salween River basin. In April 2004, Thailand?s Energy Ministry and Burma?s Ministry of Electric Power agreed to develop four of the proposed projects. Joint feasibility studies began this past fall, prompting representatives from several different Burmese ethnic groups to urge Thailand to reconsider. Their concerns emphasized the environmental costs of these dams and the fact that electricity produced from them would be exported abroad instead of supplying local populations who endure serious energy shortages.Their pleas appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
Fortunately, the arrest of Khin Nyunt in October 2004 has fomented rather than ended the power struggle between different factions within the SPDC. As a result, the ongoing political turmoil inside the country has created a brief window of opportunity. But constructive action is needed quickly...While hydropower projects have brought economic benefits, they have also adversely affected millions of people worldwide who depend upon rivers for their survival. These projects have irreversibly damaged ecosystems and led to the loss of livelihoods, cultures, and the rights of populations displaced by dams. All of the dam projects proposed for the Salween River basin in Burma fail to meet the standards established by the World Commission in Dams, particularly those related to open and transparent decision-making.27 In every instance, advocates for the dams have failed to include the affected communities in the decision-making process, which raises concerns that profits are again being put before local interests and needs.
The projects also fail to meet the basic principle of distributive justice, which is embedded in the notion of sustainable development and other rights-based approaches. Sustainability, according to the 1980 World Commission on Environment and Development, cannot be achieved if policies do not consider the ramifications of resource accessibility and the equitable distribution of benefits and burdens across all affected stakeholders, including non-human ones.28
Current conditions inside Burma do not permit any of the above principles to be honored.
For these reasons, further construction should be halted until other, less destructive options, can be explored, discussed, and agreed upon by all the stakeholders..."
Source/publisher:
EarthRights International
Date of publication:
2005-05-02
Date of entry/update:
2005-05-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
English
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Description:
CHAPTER 1:
Livelihoods and Ecosystems along the Salween;
CHAPTER 2:
Politics and Power Behind Dam Building;
CHAPTER 3:
Conditions in Burma;
CHAPTER 4:
Tasang Dam:
CHAPTER 5:
Wei Gyi and Dagwin Dams:
CHAPTER 6:
Salween Water Diversion Projects;
CHAPTER 7:
Avoiding Tragedy..."...This book calls for efforts to prevent destructive
large scale hydro-power development on the Salween, and also to find
low-impact models of development that can ensure a rising standard of living
for the communities it supports. Our hope is that the international community
will support the campaign to protect the Salween and its peoples in both Thailand
and Burma...Among the major river systems in mainland Southeast Asia, the dam-building
industry has successfully promoted construction of numerous dams on the
Mekong River and its tributaries, causing the destruction of the environment
and loss of livelihoods for millions of people. By contrast, the Salween River,
which like the Mekong originates in the Himalayas and runs parallel to the
Mekong for several hundred miles, remains the longest river in mainland
Southeast Asia that flows freely, uninterrupted by dams.
3
This does not mean that the Salween River has been free from efforts to
construct dams in its basin. In fact, hydro-power developers and dam builders
from countries such as Japan, China, Australia, and Thailand have long been
attracted to the Salween River basin, along with public institutions that have a
history of financing hydro-power development and dam construction such as
the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Japan Bank
for International Cooperation (JBIC). Feasibility studies already have been
conducted at many sites, and the promoters of the dams are geared to start
construction at any moment without either consulting the local peoples or
considering the social and environmental impacts the dams will have. If current
trends continue, it is only a matter of time before the Salween will forever
cease to flow freely.
As with dam building in any other part of the world, the drive behind the plans
to build dams on the Salween River does not necessarily stem from the quest
for social or public welfare. While hydro-power may generate needed
electricity, much of the push to dam comes from the ambitions of dam builders
who stand to benefit from the consultancies, provision of equipment and building
contracts. Chapter 2 examines the political and economic motives behind the
plans to dam the Salween River.
Dams? Harmful Impacts
Construction of large dams in any part of the world is known to inflict severe,
negative effects on the environment and the livelihoods of the local people,
and the planned dam and diversion projects in the Salween River system are
no exception. Moreover, the current situation in Burma will certainly further
aggravate such impacts for those communities living in the project areas in
Burma. Chapters 1 and 3 describe the situation along the Salween where the
dams are proposed. Given the negative impacts that are certain to occur,
alternative energy and water management options should be considered before
final decisions are made to dam the Salween River. Chapter 7 examines the
alternative options that are available, and presents recommendations to the
international community..."
Source/publisher:
Salween Watch, Southeast Asia Rivers Network, Center for Social Development Studies, Chulalongkorn University
Date of publication:
2004-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2004-12-16
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and rivers - articles, reports, resources, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
English
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Description:
F?r den Energieexport nach Thailand will Burmas Milit?rregierung einen Gro?staudamm bauen, f?r den Tausende Angeh?rige der Shan umgesiedelt werden sollen. Der Tasang Staudamm soll am Fluss Salween im zentralen Shan Bundesstaat entstehen. Teile des Gebietes sind bereits entv?lkert.
?berblick der Geselschaft f?r bedrohte V?lker ?ber die Pl?ne zum Bau des Tasang-Staudamms und die Konsequenzen f?r die einheimische Bev?lkerung und die Umwelt.
key words: Tasang-dam, forced relocation, consequences for local population, environment
Source/publisher:
Gesellschaft f?r bedrohte V?lker
Date of publication:
2001-12-00
Date of entry/update:
2004-01-08
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and rivers - articles, reports, resources, Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams, Energy, Forced relocation of Palaung, Shan and Wa, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
Deutsch, German
more
Description:
Ein Artikel ?ber die Aktivit?ten der ADB in Burma, Staudammprojekte am Salween, Umweltkatastrophen, ?lkologische Folgen der Staudammprojekte.
activities of the ADB concerning Burma; environmental, ecological and sicial consequences of dam-projects
Daniel Apolinarski
Source/publisher:
Burma Initiative Asienhaus
Date of publication:
2003-10-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-12-05
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its watchers (Burma/Myanmar), Dams, Energy, Asian Development Bank, Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
Deutsch, German
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Description:
"MDX Plc, a local major construction group, is set to sign a memorandum of understanding with
Rangoon for the construction of a 3,600-megawatt hydro-power dam on the Salween River..."
Yuthana Praiwan. Translator Tetz Hakoda (BurmaInfo)
Source/publisher:
Bangkok Post (Business News)
Date of publication:
2002-12-13
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and rivers - articles, reports, resources, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
Japanese, English
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Description:
Current updates of hydroelectric power projects on the Salween River. Mainly based on wire reports in English.
Yuki Akimoto
Source/publisher:
BurmaInfo
Date of publication:
2002-12-23
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Development assistance: Japan, Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and rivers - articles, reports, resources, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
Japanese
Format :
php
Size:
201 bytes
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Description:
Current updates of hydroelectric power projects on the Salween River. Mainly based on wired reports in English.
Yuki Akimoto
Source/publisher:
BurmaInfo
Date of publication:
2003-01-29
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and rivers - articles, reports, resources, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
Japanese
more
Description:
Current updates of hydroelectric power projects on the Salween River. Mainly based on wired reports in English.
Yuki Akimoto
Source/publisher:
BurmaInfo
Date of publication:
2003-03-00
Date of entry/update:
2003-06-03
Grouping:
Individual Documents
Category:
Dams and other projects on rivers in Burma/Myanmar (countrywide), Dams and rivers - articles, reports, resources, Dams and other projects on the Salween and its tributories
Language:
Japanese
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