You may or may not have heard Irrawaddy River News of Burma Rivers Network and it ‘s recent manifesto. If the latter is true and you’re curious. I read this news, I felt that I want to visit to Myitsone-Kachin State ,listen from the people ‘s complaints and see with my own eyes how the confluence is already well on its way to destruction .
The Irrawaddy River is the most important lifeblood river and biggest one among the five river in Myanmar.It runs the whole length of the country through Kachin State,Sagaing Division,Manadalay Division ,Magwe Division,Bago Division and Irrawaddy Division before entering into Bay of Bangal. Millions of people are depending on Irrawaddy River for their livelihoods. Many towns, cities and village tracts are situated along left and right banks of Irrawaddy River . Much of Myanmar’s population lives near the Irrawaddy River. The country is filled with forests, swamps, and mountains. However, the Myanmar government has other plans for the development of Myitsone-Kachin State. Together with China’s state owned Chinese Power Investment Corporation, the new military-backed civilian administration is planning to build the country’s largest dam, the 15th largest in the world at Myitsone-Kachin State.The dam will produce hydropower to be sold to China, earning around US $500 million annually. Once the dam is in operation, the Myitsone area will be totally flooded, and all the beauty and cultural significance associated with it will be lost forever. I mentioned it “how sad it was that the Kachin people were losing an important part of their heritage”.Dam site is located the Mizoram-Manipur Kachin rainforest region, which is recognized as one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots and a global conservation priority. It would also disrupt transportation of nutrients to the Irrawaddy’s delta, which provides nearly 60 percent of Burma’s rice. It’s very important not only to the Kachin people, who consider it the birthplace of their culture, but also for the whole of Myanmar.
Irrawaddy Division –Boat Tan Village
I want to say water is one of the most powerful forces on earth. It can create and destroy. I visited one of village at Irrawaddy division on last 3 months ago with my mother. Village named is called “Boat Tan” and most of villagers are farmers. They work on the fields that are around the village. A farmer is very hard working; he gets up early in the morning, takes his plough, and with his cattle goes to his field even before it is full daylight. He works there all day without caring of the hardships of weather. Winter, summer or rains, river, it is all the same for him. We find him working on his field sowing, ploughing or reaping in biting cold as well as in the host winds of summer. He works ceaselessly till noon, when his wife or children bring for him his mid-day meal. he takes it under the shade of some tree. Having eaten his meager food and having washed it down with a glass of mutha or the cool water of a flowing broke or well, he again resumes his work. Such is a typical day in the life of farmer. His life is full of difficulties. In spite of his hard labour, he lives a life of extreme poverty.In this village, farmers are really rely on the Irrawaddy River because it gives them water for their ‘s agriculture job , animals just like cows live and necessary to all living things .
Oh yes , Irrawaddy River , it is very important for their survival .What about you ,the river ? Where are you in relation to the river of consciousness? What if there is no Irrawaddy River in near future? Is there no Irrawaddy River , “Without the forests, where would we fish? What will you eat?” “What will you do when the trees are all gone? Where will we live?” People say that they will die, around the same time those dams were built upriver of Myitsone-Kachin state. Around the same time the Irrawaddy River stopped appearing. We didn’t have to worry about money. We lived on of the river and the forest. I said “The time to act is now,” The Chinese are pressuring the Burmese government to build dam on the Irrawaddy River. My contacts in China and Myanmar said that the dam would bring electricity to a new industrial town. Both countries will share the profits. Now, I’m not against these countries’ plans to build a strong economy, but I am against them selfishly building a dam without considering what will happen to the countries down river. If dam is built, our Irrawaddy River will be nothing but dry mud. I won’t lie to you. This is a dangerous task. Some of you will not survive. But if we don’t do anything, we will lose our village, our land. Without the river, we cannot survive. I want all of us to gather as many men and women as possible. Talk to your parents, your brothers, your sisters. Encourage them to join the fight with us and voice out “Save The Irrawaddy”.
The key idea is that there are perpetually enough natural resources for future generations. Water is an essential element to survival. There is enough clean water for generations; you are ensuring the survival of the human race. Conservation is key to water management. It is important that everyone conserves and be considerate of how much water is being used. Your actions will prevent future water conflicts in your town, city, and even nation. Talk to your local water department and politicians and see what is being done to ensure that future generations have enough clean water to use. Take the opportunity to prevent water conflicts from forming by learning of current local water issues and exploring possible solutions.
Ei
Ref : http://www.burmariversnetwork.org/home-mainmenu-1.html
