N'Mai River

Course

The N'Mai runs parallel to the Mali River, and has its source in the Himalayan glaciers of eastern Tibet at about 28° north latitude. It is not navigable because of strong currents. The N'mai ends at its confluence (Myit-son) with the Mali River in Kachin State where the two rivers combine to form the Ayeyarwady River.

The confluence is "one of the most significant cultural heritage sites for the Kachin people and an important landmark for all of Burma."

Construction of the proposed Myitsone Dam was planned at the confluence of the Mali and the N'Mai River. It has been suspended since 30 September 2011, when amid democratic reforms in the country, President Thein Sein announced he was suspending construction on the Myitsone Dam project for the duration of his tenure, as the project was contrary to the will of the people.

History

The British forester and ornithologist Bertram E. Smythies studied the area in the 1940s. More recently, Kalaya Lu, Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Botany at Myitkyina University between 2002 and 2006, published a paper on plant diversity in the river watershed, concluding that it consists of different ecosystems, ranging in elevation from 800 metres to more than 4,600 metres, and containing some of the richest areas of Sino-Himalaya flora diversity in the world.

In 2007, the government of Myanmar signed an agreement with China Power Investment Corporation to construct a series of dams on the Ayeyarwady, Mali, and N’Mai rivers. For the N'Mai, one on the Mali, and one at the confluence, up to five dams were proposed. This dam, the largest of the seven, would destroy the confluence. and a local protest about one of the dams at Chibwe met with government suppression.

References

References

1. "Upper Irrawaddy".
2. "The HJ/11/6 KA KARPO RAZI BURMA'S HIGHEST PEAK".
3. Kalaya Lu, [http://www.myanmar-education.edu.mm/moe_main/moert/download/yu-kalayarlu.doc "Abstract: Floradiversity of North-eastern Kachin Myanmar Section of Sino-himalaya (N'mai Hka-Than Lwin Water Division)"] {{Webarchive. link. (19 December 2008 , Myitkyina University, Faculty of Botanics, 2006. Accessed 27 June 2009.)
4. Burma Rivers Network, "{{usurped
5. [http://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/irrawaddy-myitsone-dam-0 Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam]
6. (30 September 2011). "Burma dam: Work halted on divisive Myitsone project". BBC.
7. B. E. Smythies, [https://archive.today/20120919185740/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120815570/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 "A Reconnaissance of the N'Mai Hka Drainage, Northern Burma"], Ibis, Volume 91 Issue 4, Pages 627-648, Wiley.
8. Construction started in 2008Shyamal Sarkar, [http://www.kachinnews.com/index.php/commentary/218-kachin-hydropower-projects-to-spell-doom.html Kachin hydropower projects to spell doom] {{Webarchive. link. (12 June 2011 ,''Kachin News'', 31 January 2008)
9. Burma News Network, [https://myamarnews.blogspot.com/2008/07/christian-leaders-questioned-over-anti.html "Christian leaders questioned over anti-dam campaign"], 29 July 2008.