Myanmar: ‘Our Land Is Collapsing around Us’: Ayeyarwady at Risk from Rampant Sand Mining

Feb 13, 2019 | Hein Ko Soe and Clare Hammond, Frontier
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Since 2010, a construction boom in Myanmar has fuelled sharp growth in the extraction of sand from the Ayeyarwady that is then used in cement and asphalt. Environmental groups say this dredging is destabilising the river and placing stress on the Ayeyarwady Delta, the country’s main rice producing region. Experts warn that the rate of sand mining in the Ayeyarwady has already reached an unsustainable level, but is projected to increase as development continues.