Wastewater from the coal-fired power plant in Tikyit, Pinlaung Township, Pa-O Self-Administered Region, has been identified as the cause of health problems and drinking water shortages in the area.
Edin Power Company Group started operating the coal-fired power plant on March 1.
Residents said the coal-fired power plant in Tikyit uses natural purified drinking water, and locals are then forced to use the water discharged from the coal-fired power plant, leading to health problems.
Three of the four creeks in Tikyit are now dried up. Locals are facing the drinking water shortages as raw sewage from the coal-fired power plant is discharged directly into the remaining creek.
“Tikyit is now facing water problems. Villagers are afraid to use the wastewater. Local companies are now operating the coal-fired power plant as Chinese companies are digging for antimony. There have been difficulties procuring drinking water. We urgently need donors. We are now farming with wastewater discharged by the coal-fired power plant,” said Tikyit resident Tun Khin.
“At present, there is a scarcity of water. We are now reusing the sewage water discharged by the coal-fired power plants. A creek in our village is now dry. The [companies] piped water from a local spring, which thousands of villagers relied on, to the plant. Now Tikyit and other neighbourhoods in the area are facing water shortages,” said Nan Htwe Kham.
Seven villages in Tikyit have been impacted by the operation of the coal-fired power plant. Moreover, 440 people from two villages were relocated in October 2014. They received meagre compensations, according to residents.
Shwe Than Lwin Co has operated mining operations in the area since the beginning of 2000 and built factories in 2002 and 2004 to purify the minerals.
A factory was handed over by the Shan Yoe Ma Naga Company in 2002. The Shan Yoe Ma Naga Company continued to hand over the mining industry to the Edin Natural Power and Resources Development Company, jointly founded by the Eastern Command headquarters, the Pa-O National Organisation, Edin Company and Kanbawza Company.
Although Edin Natural Power and Resources Development Company was given a green light to conduct its operations in 544 acres, the company grabbed additional land from locals, bringing its area of operation up to 824 acres.
Source: elevenmyanmar
