Photo: Shan State Rivers
Mizzima
Local villagers and youths gathered at riverbanks in Hsipaw, Kyaukme and Kunhing in Shan State to hold blessing ceremonies and call for a halt to dam building on 14 March, the International Day of Action for Rivers.
Environmental civil society organisation (CSO), Action for Shan State Rivers, reported on the protests.
About 200 villagers from Namma Village Tract in Hsipaw Township, northern Shan State, gathered on the banks of the Namma River and held up banners in Shan and Burmese languages with slogans such as “May our river flow freely forever”, “May Shan State Rivers flow freely” and “May Shan State people be free.” Villagers also carried out a traditional blessing ceremony and released a raft to symbolize their resistance to damming the Namma, a sub-tributary of the Namtu/Myitnge River.
In Kyaukme Township, also in northern Shan State, about 30 people gathered on the bank of the Namtu River and held a sign calling for a halt to all dam building on Shan State rivers, including the Namtu.
The Namtu is one of the main rivers in northern Shan State. Local farmers rely on it for transportation and agriculture. Several of its tributaries have become silted up and shallow due to extensive coal mining.
Despite an increase in fighting between the junta and defence forces along the Namtu in recent months, construction has continued on two large dam projects on the Namtu. They are the Upper Yeywa Dam at Taung Che Village, Kyaukme Township, and the Namtu Dam at Tadae Village in Hsipaw Township.
In Kunhing, in southern Shan State, about 100 local people also gathered on the bank of the Salween River to mark the International Day of Action for Rivers
