From GlobalShift
Sixty villages in Kachin, the northernmost state in Burma, are being forced to relocate to make room for a Chinese dam.
The Myit Sone dam, will produce between 3600 and 6000 MW of power for export to China and will be the first and largest in a series of 6 other Chinese dams eventually to be built. It will be built by the China Power Investment Corporation along the Irrawaddy River and its main tributaries, according to environmental groups.
Construction began December 21, 2009, and is expected to generate up to 500 million USD (368 million euros) per year for the Burmese junta, the ones that signed off on the deal. The dam won’t benefit the locals in any way.
In fact, a local pro-autonomy political organisation called the Kachin Development Networking Group says that 47 villages, located in the world’s eighth most bio-diverse region of the world, will be flooded because of the dam.
The dams threaten those who rely on the Irrawaddy for fishing and farming, no to mention the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin, but no impact assessments have been conducted, according to Burma Rivers Network.
Visit The Source of the Irrawaddy River in 360°
Visit The Source of the Irrawaddy River in 360°-2
Visit riverside Myitkyina on the Irrawaddy River in 360°
Visit riverside Myitkyina on the Irrawaddy River in 360°-2
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