More than K490 mln spent on development of Chindwin River waterway system

More than K490 million are spent on the development of the Chindwin River waterway system, said U Htet Zaw Oo, Assistant Director of the Department of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems in the Sagaing Region.
“The department, region 6, Monywa town in Sagaing region is annually carrying out the improvement project of Chindwin River. In this current financial year, the old dam upgrading and tunnel sand cleaning projects are conducted starting from last week of December to improve waterway system of the Chindwin River in Mawlaik and Monywa townships,” he clarified.
In order to develop the waterway system of the Chindwin River, the linking of a 1,800-foot-two tired dam and a 300-foot old dam is carried out at a cost of K197.122 million in Mawlaik township, while the similar dam project is undertaken at a cost of K296.155 million in Monywa township.
In the 2021-2022FY mini-budget period, the development of the Chindwin River waterway project is under implementation in Mawlaik and Monywa townships beginning from the last week of December 2021 with the spending of K493.277 million from the Union budget on the smooth and safe movement of vessels.
In the last 2020-2021FY, the Department of Water Resources and Improvement of River Systems implemented seven different projects in the development of the Chindwin River, spending K901.5 million of the Union funds.
There are 604 cargo vessels from 19 cargo vessel associations and 346 high-speed passenger vessels from 46 passengers’ vessel associations that regularly ply in the Chindwin River, according to the Sagaing Region Department of Marine Administration. — Lu Lay/GNLM