In Mon State expanding quarries threaten farms
The number of quarries in Mon State is quickly increasing and locals say authorities fail to regulate their environmental impact on farmlands. On a recent afternoon in May, the farmers of Ohn Titbin Village Tract were tending to their betel nut and rubber plantations when a loud blast erupted at the foot of Kalama Mountain and shook the ground. Workers had set off an explosion in a local quarry located about 10 km away and a cloud of dust drifted out from the area towards the plantations here in Mon State, southeastern Myanmar.
