ENVIRONMENT & WILDLIFEENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES327Air & Water Pollution
You don’t need to be a scientifi c expert to sniff the air pollution in Yan-
gon and Mandalay. According to a spokesperson for Ecodev (www.ecodev
-mm.com), a local NGO, studies by the National Commission for En-
vironmental Aff airs pegged air quality in these cities at below World
Health Organisation standards.
Uncontrolled gold and other mining means that the release of pollut-
ants into rivers and the sea is steadily increasing. The most noticeable
aspect of pollution to travellers will be the piles of non-biodegradable
waste, such as plastic bags, dumped at the edge of towns and villages
and seen fl uttering across the fi elds. Bans on the production and sale of
polythene bags and cord exist in both Yangon and Mandalay but they are
not strictly enforced.
Dams & Pipelines
In the last decade the authorities have embarked on a series of hydro-
electric dam projects along the country’s major rivers, creating a cre-
scendo of economic, social and environmental problems. Trumping the
fuss made over the ongoing construction of the Tamanthi Dam on the
Chindwin River, which has so far forced the relocation of many tribal
Kuki villages and threatens the habitat of rare wildlife species, is the
Myitsone Dam, the biggest of seven large dams currently planned on the
Mali, the N’Mai and the Ayeyarwady rivers.
The government has said it wants to make hydropower its sole source
of electricity by 2030 but critics believe the majority of the power gener-
ated will be exported to neighbouring countries.
There’s also concern among environmentalists about the development
of oil and gas fi elds off Myanmar’s coast and the impact this is having on
fragile eco-systems as pipelines are built across the country to send the
fossil fuels to Thailand and China.
Find out about
Myanmar’s rivers
and the environ-
mental problems
they face at
Burma Rivers
Network http://www.
burmarivers
network.org, an
umbrella gro.Earthrights
International
(www.earthrights.
org) documents
human rights and
environmental
abuses in My-
anmar, focusing
in particular on
the controversial
Yadana gas
pipeline.