Local residents living near Myitsone and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) based in Myitkyina have called for the construction of the Myitsone dam project in Myitkyina Township, Kachin State to be totally stopped. The call was made on International Rivers Day which fell on March 14. 
Kachin State based CSOs held a prayer meeting at the confluence of Maykha, Malikha and Ayeyarwady Rivers calling for an end to all 7 dam projects being built on the three rivers and other similar dam projects in the country. 
The Kachin Development Network Group (KDNG) secretary Sarjee told Mizzima that the meeting was attended by over 300 people wearing headbands with the slogan ‘No Dam’. 
“First we said prayers at mass, then we visited the river bank and drank water from bamboo containers which were stuck with Myitsone symbols,” he said. 
Attendees also set adrift roses on the Ayeyarwady River and demanded the return of local villagers who had been forcibly relocated from villages near Myitsone to their old villages to ensure their livelihood. 
Over 150 CSOs from Kachin State issued a statement on October 10, 2015 which called for a permanent halt to the Myitsone Dam project as there were more cons than pros. 
The government led by President Thein Sein suspended the building of the dam project in September 2011 after widespread protests.