The Tasang Dam ( my, တာဆန်းဆည်), also known as the Mong Ton Dam, is a planned multi-purpose dam on the

Salween River , ''Mae Nam Salawin'' ( , name_etymology = , image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar , map ...

in the

Shan State Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos ( ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. The Tasang dam's location will be northeast of Rangoon and west of Mongtong. The Tasang Dam will be the first dam on the

and will be the largest hydroelectric dam in Myanmar and the tallest dam in Southeast Asia if completed. The Tasang will cost more than US$6 billion and is planned for completion in 2022. The groundbreaking ceremony was in March 2007, but construction has been stalled, and there has been little activity at the dam site as of 2008. Substantial domestic and international controversy surrounds the Tasang Dam project. The Tasang dam is one of five dams the

Myanmar Government Myanmar ( also known as Burma) operates ''de jure'' as a unitary assembly-independent republic under its 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's military took over the government in a coup, causing ongoing anti-coup protests. ...

plans to build on the Salween River.

Background

Since the late 1990s, the

Burmese Government Myanmar ( also known as Burma) operates ''de jure'' as a unitary assembly-independent republic under its 2008 constitution. On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's military took over the government in a coup, causing ongoing anti-coup protests. ...

proposed to build the Tasang dam but was unable to implement the construction plan until this decade because of civil unrest. Nippon Koei, a Japanese company conducted studies for the dam in 1981 and subsequent studies were done in 2002. Thailand's MDX Group agreed in 2002 to develop the project. Thailand is the main investor in the dam project and the trade of the TaSang's electricity is expected to help relations between

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. 85% of the hydro-electricity produced is expected to be transmitted to Thailand.

Design

The Tasang concrete-faced rockfill dam is designed to be tall and house a hydro-power station with a 7,110 MW capacity to produce 35,446 GWh annually. Tasang's

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

will bisect a large portion of

, preluding serious social and environmental problems.

Construction

Construction on the dam is being led by the Thai MDX Group along with the China Gezhouba Group Co., Sinohydro Corporation,

China Southern Power Grid Company China Southern Power Grid Company Limited (CSG; ) is one of the two Chinese state-owned enterprises established in 2002 according to the precept to reform the power system promulgated by the State Council, the other being State Grid Corporati ...

, China Three Gorges Project Corporation and the British Malcolm Dunstan & Associates. The groundbreaking ceremony for the dam was in March 2007, but since the ceremony, actual construction of the dam has been stalled, and there has been little activity at the dam-site.

Social Impact

Since 1996, as many as 300,000 villagers, mostly Shan people have been displaced to make room for the Tasang Dam's reservoir. Thousands more relocations are expected as construction progresses. The dam's reservoir will dissect

in half –almost to the Chinese border – and will negatively impact the local communities and ecosystems. Myanmar's

Junta Junta may refer to: Government and military * Junta (governing body) (from Spanish), the name of various historical and current governments and governing institutions, including civil ones ** Military junta, one form of junta, government led by ...

is responsible for the relocations and there have reports of serious human rights violations including executions.

Mizzima News Mizzima News ( my, မဇ္ဈိမသတင်း, Ma.jjhi.ma.) is a Burmese multimedia news organisation. It was established in August 1998 by a group of Burmese journalists in exile in New Delhi. The International Press Institute awarded Mi ...

br>Dam construction endangers lives of locals: report
, August 5, 2009, Retrieved on April 28, 2011

References

{{reflist Dams in Myanmar Dam controversies Proposed hydroelectric power stations Salween River Proposed renewable energy power stations in Myanmar