Myanmar: In Mon State, Expanding Quarries Threaten Farms

Jun 19, 2016 | Phyo Thiha Cho, Myanmar Now
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Farmers in Mon State, which comprises six villages with Bamar, Karen, Pa-O and Mon residents, said that since 2011 authorities had allowed companies to rapidly expand the extraction of rock stone to make gravel, while paying little attention to its environmental impact. Waste and dust has polluted air and water sources, they said, while explosions have disrupted the underground water table and caused cracks in the walls of local homes and Buddhist pagodas. Swathes of forest around the quarries that were used by villagers to collect firewood and food, such as bamboo shoots, have been fenced off.