Residents in Lon Ton village, Indawgyi region of Mohnyin District are worried that the village cemetery will be damaged due to gold mining near it.

Villagers are anxioused about the damages of the burial site due to the construction of a road for gold mining near the Lon Ton village cemetery in Ma Mon Kai village tract.

“The road is about 200-feet long. They dug up the burial ground and built a road in the cemetery. Locals are quite worried about the destruction of the cemetery where funerals have been held for 40 years”, a local told Myitkyina News Journal.

In the upper part of the cemetery, there are farmlands, which have been turned into large mud pods due to gold mining.

Currently, gold mining processes are conducted near Lon Ton, Ma Mon Kai and Mai Nong villages in Indawgyi using heavy machinery around the clock. In addition, galvanized roof panels are erected as fences around the forest area next to the main road, where gold mining has been ramped up lately.

“11 feet high roof panels were erected like a fence along the side of the main road. Its length may be about half a mile”, a local said.

As it is covered with galvanized roof panels, the gold mining can no longer be seen. But another villager said that he noticed that the drainage system of the stream has deteriorated significantly.

Diesel, engine oil and mercury used in gold mining make the stream dirty and muddy, so it is inconvenient to use stream water, locals added.