Electrical industry of burma/myanmar

BILUCHAUNG NO 3 HYDROPOWER PROJECT MOVING AHEAD

NLM, 14/02/09. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs6/NLM2009-02-14.pdf

Prime Minister Thein Sein inspected Biluchaung No 3 hydropower project being implemented by the Ministry of Electric Power No 1 on 10 February. Accompanied by varrous generals and government officials, the PM arrived at Lawpita village where they were welcomed by departmental officials of the Hydropower Generating Enterprise. At the construction site of the Biluchaung No 3 project, the PM heard reports by EPM-1 Zaw Min on the implementation of the Biluchaung projects and the progress being made on Biluchaung No 3 project.
Afterwards, the Managing Director of Future Power Co Ltd reported on undertaking six main tasks at the Biluchaung No 3 project including the use of heavy machinery and the number of workers employed on the project. In reply, the Prime Minister gave instructions on meeting the standard set for implementation of the project, its timely completion, the supply of heavy machinery to the worksite and attention to be paid to worksite safety. He also viewed samples of stones taken out from the water intake tunnel by a drilling machine that were on display near the briefing hall. At the approach tunnel No 2, the walls of the tunnel are being lined with concrete.
Biluchaung No 3 Hydropower Project site is located at the confluence of Bilu Creek and Pun [Pawn] Creek, 16 miles southeast of Loikaw. It will have an roller-compacted, ogee-type diversion weir and water intake tunnel. Two 24-megawatt generators will be installed at the station which will generate an average of 334 million kilowatt hours yearly. [A photo of the entrance to one of the approach tunnels to the Biluchaung No 3 hydropower project is included in the print edition of NLM.]
Topographic map references: Burma 1:250,000: Series U542, U.S. Army Map: NF 47-01: Pyinmana

Mobye dam, just north of Mong Pai [19° 44' N, 97° 05' E], grid square reference: 10\9, 26\6

Datacha dam, near Datacha [19° 39' N, 97° 16' E], grid square reference: 10\8, 26\8

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/burma/txu-oclc-6924198-ne47-1.jpg
Additional references
Data summary: Biluchaung-3

See below: ‘Lawpita power plants and associated dams’ (Appendix 1)

For more on the relationship of High-Tech Concrete with other companies under the direction of U Eik Htun, see China Datang and Shwetaung team up for six hydropower projects.
NLM, 30/05/11. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/NLM2011-05-30.pdf

At a ceremony in Beijing on 27 May to sign nine Agreements and MoUs between Myanmar and China during the visit of President Thein Sein to the PRC, Governor Than Nyein of the Central Bank of Myanmar inked a Professional Buyer Credit Loan Agreement on the supply of a hydraulic steel structure and electromechanical works for Baluchaung-3 hydropower project between the Central Bank of Myanmar and the Export- Import Bank of China with V-P Su Zhong of Export-Import Bank of China of the PRC and a Framework Agreement on Financing Cooperation between the Ministry of Finance and Revenue of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and China Development Bank Corporation with Vice President Wang Yong Sheng of the China Development Bank Corporation.

Naw Noreen, DVB, 26/05/11. Adapted and condensed. http://www.dvb.no/news/seven-killed-after-tunnel-collapses/15836

Seven people are confirmed dead after a tunnel collapsed at a dam under construction in Karenni state. The tunnel, which will divert the waters of Bilu creek, is being built at the Biluchaung-3 hydropower project. It caved in as the workers were pouring concrete inside. “The workers knew the tunnel was about to collapse and they told their Chinese boss to evacuate but he didn’t agree,” said a source in Loikaw. “Finally the tunnel collapsed and the Chinese boss was among the dead. The workers paid for his wrong decision.”

NLM, 07/02/11. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs11/NLM2011-02-07.pdf

A photo of the entrance to an intake tunnel at No-3 Biluchaung hydropower project is included in an article on Kayah state.

Text and photos by Thet Htet Ko, NLM, 05/09/10. Edited and condensed.

http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs09/NLM2010-09-05.pdf

Belu Creek hydropower project No 3 is being constructed under the B.O.T. system which partners the Hydropower Implementation Dept of EPM-1 with the Future Energy Co Ltd, an associate of High Tech Concrete Technology Co Ltd. The project is divided into six main phases: (1) pre-engineering works (now competed), (2) digging of the water intake tunnel including the main tunnel and approach tunnels, (3) construction of the diversion weir, (4) construction of the regulating lake, spillway and canal, (5) construction of the penstocks and power station, and (6) construction of the switchyard and transmission line. The construction of the diversion weir and the water intake system is a massive undertaking. The large workforce that includes 44 Myanmar engineers works on both day and night shifts. Dump trucks and excavators busily ply between stone grinders and cement mixers. 722 metres of the 4,300-metre-long main intake tunnel have now been finished, and the 100-metre-long No 2 approach tunnel and the 220-metre-long No 4 approach tunnel have been completed. Along the oxygenated main intake tunnel were Myanmar engineers conducting surveys. I was amazed at the impressive work being carried out by these engineers and local workers. A young Myanmar engineer, wearing a smile on her face, conducted me around tunnel No 4. Afterwards, we observed construction of the regulating lake, spillway and power station. Construction was started in 2008 and is due to be finished in 2012. Two 26-megawatt, vertical-shaft, Francis turbines that are expected to generate 334 million kWh per year will be installed.

[Photos showing the approach water intake tunnel No 4, an aerial view of earthworks for the penstocks, the roofing of a section of main water intake tunnel and excavation work at the regulating lake are included in the print edition of NLM.]
NLM, 31/12/09. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs08/Electricity_article-NLM2009-12-31.pdf

Completion of Biluchaung-3 hydropower project is expected in 2012.

China Gezhouba Group, 18/09/09. http://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/20090918/13596768767.shtml

On 14/09/09, China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Co Ltd and Myanmar Future Energy Co signed an agreement in Yangon for construction of the diversion tunnel (CW1 tender) at Baluchaung-3 hydropower station. The Baluchaung-3 hydropower station project will be self-financed by Myanmar Future Energy Company. The contract is worth US$ 21.04 million and is to be completed within 28 months.

China Gezhouba Group, 31/08/09. http://finance.ifeng.com/roll/20090831/1175077.shtml

On 24 August, the Gezhouba Group was notified by Myanmar Concrete Technology Co that it had been awarded the contract to construct the diversion tunnel for the Baluchaung-3 hydropower station in Myanmar. The contract is worth US$ 21 million. Baluchaung-3 hydropower station is the third cascade dam on Myanmar's Baluchaung river. It will have an installed capacity of 52 MW. The contract includes excacating and shoring the diversion tunnel and lining it with concrete, as well as grouting and tunnel blocking. The work period is 28 months.

Kyaw Ye Min, NLM, 20/02/09. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs6/NLM2009-02-20.pdf

Baluchaung-3 and Sai Tin hydropower projects are being implemented jointly with foreign investors.

NLM, 16/11/08. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs5/NLM2008-11-16.pdf

At the co-ordination meeting (1/2008) of the Special Projects Implementation Committee in the office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army), EPM-1 Zaw Min gave a brief account of six completed projects, 22 ongoing projects and 15 hydropower projects that call for the approval of the Committee. [Among the the fifteen are] the Bilu Creek No 3 hydropower project (48 megawatts) in Bago [sic] division.

"Myanmar Country Report on Progress of Power Development Plans and Transmission Interconnection Projects", Fifith Meeting of Planning Working Group of the Regional Power Trade Coordination Committee, Greater Mekong Subregion (Ventiane, 17/06/08), Appendix 4, p 22. http://www.adb.org/Documents/Events/Mekong/Proceedings/PWG5-Appendix4.4.pdf

An MoU on Baluchaung-3 hydropower project (48 MW) was signed between the Ministry of Electric Power-1 and High Tech Concrete Technology Co Ltd on 2nd May 2008.

NLM, 18/01/08. http://mission.itu.ch/MISSIONS/Myanmar/08nlm/n080118.htm

On a visit to Biluchaung-3 hydropower site Lt-Gen Kyaw Win of the MoD is briefed on arrangements for implementation of the project, construction of the power intake tunnel and power plant and the future generation of power by project co-ordinator Tin Maung Win of HPID. Kyaw Win checks the water current at the confluence of Bilu creek and Pun [Pawn] creek. HPID and High Tech Concrete Technology Co Ltd will jointly construct the diversion dam and the power intake tunnel of Biluchaung-3 hydropower project. On completion, the power plant of the project will generate 344 million kWh yearly. At Biluchaung-2 hydropower plant, Kyaw Win inspects the operation of the machines and the control room and is briefed by the plant manager, Superintending Engineer Hoke Shein. Biluchaung-2 Hydropower Plant installed with six 28-megawatt generators is producing 1,200 million kWh yearly.

Kyaw Thu, Myanmar Times, 26/11/07. http://www.mmtimes.com/no394/b005.htm

Two private Myanmar companies developing hydropower projects are planning to hire foreign consultant companies, said an energy expert close to one of the companies on November 20. Asia World and Olympic Construction are the first two private, local firms to have been entrusted to build hydropower projects in Myanmar. Asia World is slated to build the Thaukyegeat hydropower project in Bago Division, which is expected to produce some 140 MW, while Olympic Construction will build the Baluchaung-3 project in Kayah State. This project is hoped to deliver a further 48 MW. “The two companies have been running feasibility studies and preparing to submit a proposal to the Myanmar Investment Committee,” he said. When finished, the electricity generated by the two projects will be sold to the EPM-2 for distribution through the national grid.

MEPE information on ASEAN Energy website, [circa 2000]. www.aseanenergy.org/energy_sector/electricity/myanmar/future_electricity_projects.htm

Feasibility study for Baluchaung-3 in Kayah state, 48 MW, expected to generate 327 GWh annually, completed by NEWJEC.

WPD, 02/01/93. http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/BPS93-01.pdf [doc p 48]

Special Projects Implementation Committee receives a report on the Baluchaung-3 hydel project to be carried out in Loikaw township.

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INDIAN SOLAR LANTERNS TO LIGHT UP MYANMAR HUTS

PTI, 07/02/09. http://www.in.com/news/readnews-current-affairs-indian-solar-lanterns-to-light-up-myanmar-huts-7907577-54248-1.htm

Indian solar lanterns will light up more houses of the poor in Myanmar, in areas devastated by killer storm Nargis in May last year.

India handed over 250 solar lanterns to Myanmar yesterday, with Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju handing over nearly two of them to Myanmar’s Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Minister Maung Maung as a symbolic gesture on the first day of Vice President Hamid Ansari's four-day visit to this country.

The lanterns were given on a request from Myanmar following good feedback on the performance of 500 such lanterns, supplied by India soon after the cyclone struck this country killing more than one lakh people.
Website references:

Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, 2005. http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/nest

NEST is a private company based in Hyderabad, India, which was set up to develop a very small solar lantern, the 'Aishwarya®', as a safe substitute for the kerosene wick lamp. Over 65,000 lanterns have been produced and distributed during the past five years. It is estimated that in India alone, about 100 million households use kerosene wick lamps as their main source of light. Such lamps produce poor quality light and unhealthy fumes, and present a serious fire risk particularly when used in thatched homes. Fluorescent lamps with batteries recharged using solar photovoltaics (PV), can provide much better quality and safer light, but the cost of such a lantern can be prohibitive. NEST have brought down this cost, by making a PV lantern which is small and light-weight, with strict attention to quality of manufacture. By working closely with a network of dealers and sub-dealers, through whom they provide credit, spares and support, they have enabled very poor people in the most remote villages to buy PV lanterns without subsidies. Over 75% of the Aishwarya lanterns produced by NEST have been sold in this way, throughout the states of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Ashden judges commended NEST for developing an attractive and high-quality lantern specifically for the poorest households, and setting up a financial and service structure which enables such households to purchase without subsidy and receive proper after-sales support. These achievements were made possible by effective management within NEST and their active links with subcontractors and their dealership network.
Stanford Institute of Design, [2007]. Adapted. http://extreme.stanford.edu/success_stories/dlight_design.html

A team of four Stanford students has come up with a clean and efficient LED light that may prove to be a next best solution for the 1.6 billion people in the world who have no access to electricity. Erica Estrada and Xianyi Wu (mechanical engineering) along with Sam Goldman and Ted Tozun (business) began their project by studying the habits and needs of rural villages in Myanmar. Inspired by the night vendors they saw using candles, they designed LED light for use on a night vendor’s stall. After further development, they realized their product was a highly desirable household item, and shifted their focus to the home where lights needed to be hung easily from the ceiling, from the walls, and still carried comfortably in the hand for outside excursions. They honed in on the size of battery that would be necessary for night-time household use. They chose LEDs that offer enough light for the household tasks they saw (children studying, nighttime income generating activities, etc.) at the lowest price. Encouraged by successes in competitions in which they took part, they entered the Draper Fisher Jurvetson Venture Challenge and walked out of the competition with a check for a quarter of a million dollars. Several weeks later, d.light design was formed as a for-profit company. After gaining additional backing from other investors, d.light spent the next eight months doing extensive user testing, refining the design, and developing relationships with manufacturers and distributors. Eventually, they were ready to move their operations entirely overseas. Their product design and manufacturing operations are now located in Shenzhen, China, while Delhi, India is home to their sales and marketing headquarters. d.light’s first product to hit stores was the Nova, a solar-rechargeable LED lamp that is 10-20 times brighter than a kerosene lantern. It has four different light settings, and will provide light for 5-200 hours on a single charge, depending on the setting. The form factor ensures that it can be hung from the ceiling or walls, or carried by hand or with the included neck strap. The light retails for $20-$30, and has been selling in Africa and Asia. The Nova is only the first in a line of affordable lights. d.light will soon be unveiling several other models at even lower price points. d.light will also be expanding its market further into Africa and Asia, as well as to other countries where kerosene lanterns are prevalent. In the next 10 years, d.light’s goal is to replace every kerosene lantern in the world with safer, brighter, and more affordable lighting. For more information about d.light, check out www.dlightdesign.com.

Additional references
See above: ‘PM calls for bio-batteries in every cyclone-hit household’ (NLM: 07/04/09)

See below: ‘Myanmar to build first storm-resistant model village’ (Bernama: 12/06/08)

‘Solar power seen as solution for remote villages’ (MT: 06/10/03)
NLM, 18/11/11. Edited. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs12/NLM2011-11-18.pdf

EPM-1 Zaw Min presents a thousand solar lamps, stationery and clothing to flood victims of 27 villages in Seikpyu township. Afterwards, officials demonstrate how to use the solar lamps.

Agreement signed during visit of General Than Shwe to India, 29/07/10.

http://www.burmanet.org/news/2010/07/29/mea-government-of-india-joint-statement-during-the-visit-of-chairman-state-peace-and-development-council-of-myanmar/

Among other things noted in the Agreement was India’s willingness “to explore possibilities for cooperation in the field of solar energy and wind energy in Myanmar”, and an “offer to provide Myanmar, training in related fields”.

Business Standard, 28/.04/09. http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/let-there-be-light/356364/

Philips Electronics India has a portfolio of lanterns ready for areas with no electric power. These come in the price range of Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000. Philips has made two categories of lanterns: one, which can be charged on a solar panel; and two, which can be charged from electricity. In most rural households which do not run on electricity, people use kerosene to light their lamps and lanterns. This is unhealthy. To address this demand, Philips has come out with lanterns. These can be used at home or can even be carried to the fields. At the moment, Philips’ lanterns are ready for the market. Apart from the lighting network, the company has dovetailed its lanterns into the “Lighting a Billion Lives” initiative of The Energy & Resources Institute. Over 2,000 lanterns have already been distributed in 42 villages across nine states. Five hundred have been deployed in Myanmar.

NLM, 27/09/08. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs5/NLM2008-09-27.pdf

Indian Ambassador Bhaskar Kumar Mitra donated 250 solar lanterns and 250 solar torches for the storm-affected regions on behalf of Director-General R K Pachauri of the Energy and Resources Institute (India). Chairman of the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) Kyaw Thu accepted the donations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Yangon.

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ELECTRICITY FLOWING FROM MONK-DRIVEN PROJECTS IN MON STATE.

Rai Maraoh, IMNA, 05/02/09. http://www.monnews-imna.com/newsupdate.php?ID=1311 (edited)

Electricity is flowing from two monk-led local development projects in Mon state, as the government continues to leave much of the rest of southern Burma without power. The projects -- in Chaungzone and Paung townships -- have both been organized by monks or former monks, and are bringing electricity to over 600 households, with capacity for hundreds more.
The wattage from the project on Belukyun Island has residents raving. “The power supply is very good,” said the Dare resident. “We can cook, we can iron. We can use a refrigerator, fill batteries or even watch TV.”

The project in Dare was spearheaded by the abbot of the Mingalala Thu Kat monastery, who organized a group of 15 laymen that purchased a generator from Rangoon in December. About 120 of Dare’s 200 households are currently drawing power. “Our village has electricity now, because of the efforts of the monk and monastery donors,” said a woman from Dare village in Chaungzone township, on Belukyn island. “If we had just waited for electricity from the government, our village would never have it.”

The project in Paung township is centered in Mu Naing village, where former monks from the local monastery raised money to buy a hydroelectric generator in November. The project has capacity for more than a thousand households, with 514 currently connected.
“Paung town itself has electrical wires from the government, but it is rare that we get any power,” added a resident of the township centre. “That’s why some villages try to get electricity themselves. Even if they get electricity from the government, it is not enough power to do anything.”
Meanwhile, in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State, residents have been complaining about the decreasing wattage of the power they receive. Last week, Mon State officials extended electricity to villages in nearby Mudon township but, apparently, they did so without increasing the power output from the Ngante station in Moulmein.
Additional references
See below: 'Interest growing in rice-husk generation’ (MT: 10/07/06)
NLM, 09/02/09. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs6/NLM2009-02-09.pdf

Lt-Gen Tha Aye of the MoD attended the opening of the self-reliant 750-KVA paddy husk-fired power plant in DaungU Village of Chaungzon township on 2 February.

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GAS TURBINE FAILURE RESTRICTS ELECTRICITY SUPPLY IN YANGON

Xiinhua: 01/02/09. (Edited and corrected)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/01/content_10744064.htm
Maintenance work on an undersea gas pipeline and explosions on a transmission line have caused serious losses in the supply of electricity to Yangon, according to the Sunday edition of the New Light of Myanmar.
The pipelines of the Yadana natural gas project off the Mottama coast have been under maintenance since 24 January, causing a reduction in the supply of gas-powered electricity to the country's largest city, the newspaper said. As a result more power was being supplied from hydro electric sources to cover the loss of power available from city's gas-fired turbines.
The situation worsened on 26 January, however, when two towers on the Lawpita-Toungoo grid that transmits electricity from hydropower stations were blasted by anti-government armed groups of the Kayin National Union (KNU) and Kayinni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the report said.
Yangon has been under alternate electricity supply with six hours on and six hours off since early December 2008. According to an earlier report, operations at gas-run power plants at Hlawga, Ywama and Thakayta in the city had to be shut down due to problems with a section of pipeline carrying gas from the Yadana gas field, the Yangon Electricity Supply Board was quoted as saying. The problem in the pipeline that occurred in Ye township in Mon state was under repair, the YESB said.
Losses caused by the shutdowns at the three natural-gas-run power stations amounted to 140 MW since the end of November last year. With business and industrial enterprises mostly situated in Yangon, the former capital's electricity consumption takes up 60 percent or about 530 MW of the total national capacity.
There are 22 hydropower projects under implementation with 15 more to be added in the future, according to the Ministry of Electric Power.
Additional references
See above: ‘Power supply improves in Rangoon’ (Mizzima: 28/07/09)

‘Students demand better access to electricity’ (IRROL: 10/03/09)

See below: ‘Generator sales spike upward in Yangon’ (MT: 15/12/08)

‘Gas in short supply to meet demand for electricity’ (MT: 17/09/07)

‘Pipeline to solve electricity shortages’ (MT: 16/09/02)
NLM, 07/03/10. http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs08/NLM2010-03-07.pdf

EPM-2 Khin Maung Myint informs a meeting of the Special Projects Implementation Committee in Nay Pyi Taw about plans to for repair thermal power plants in various parts of the country. They include major repairs to No 3 turbine of the Ywama power plant, to No 1 turbine of the Ahlon power plant, to the Hlawga, Ahlon and Thakayta recycle steam turbines, to the Hlawga power plant, to the Thakayta power plant, to No 3 turbine at the Kyunchaung power plant, to the Shwedaung power plant, to the Myanaung power plant, to the steam turbine at the Mawlamyine power plant and to the Thaton power plant.

Xinhua, 20/03/09. Edited and abridged.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/20/content_11039486.htm

Presently, Yangon's electricity demands of over 500 MW daily have to be met by the city's four gas-run power plants which have a maximum capacity of only 300 MW, the local Biweekly Eleven reported on Friday (20/03/09). Low water levels at the country's hydropower generating facilities have reduced the supply of power otherwise available to Yangon. In order to supply electricity to homes and industrial zones for at least five hours day, authorities have temporarily suspended supply to high power-consuming heavy industries such as some steel plants in the Myaungtaka Industrial Zone [in Hmawbi], the report said. About 450,000 workers are employed in the industrial zones of the former capital.

Arka, IMNA, 02/03/09. http://www.monnews-imna.com/newsupdate.php?ID=1339

Local sources say that a gas pipeline which burst in southern Mon state on 18 February had been leaking for months. The pipeline burst between Lamine town and Hnitkayin village with a thundering rush at nine o'clock at night, but the gas did not ignite and no one was injured. Residents say the noise sound lasted for about an hour. The explosion occurred about 60 feet from the nearby Ye to Moulmein railway line and a local cart path. A villager noted that the pipeline had been leaking since at least the 2008 rainy season. The section that exploded becomes submerged during the rains, said the source, who described seeing bubbles rising from the pipe to the surface of the water. A villager from nearby Kawdood agreed. “The gas that exploded this time was the gas that was leaking since the rainy season,” he said. “Nobody repaired the pipe even though the rainy season finished. That’s why the pipe could not stay any longer. That’s why it exploded.”

Xinhua, 02/03/09. http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90778/90858/90863/6603407.html

A leak in the natural gas line between Yay and Lamine in southern Mon state has reduced the supply of power in Yangon, the Voice Weekly reported on 01/03/09, quoting the Yangon City Electricity Supply Board. Although the leak, which occurred on 18 February, had been repaired, time was needed for pressure in the line to build up to normal levels, the source said. Residents in the former capital are generally experiencing a hard time with power supply being available for an hour at a time instead of periods of at least a few hours, and the situation has caused extreme inconvenience to the public in daily life.

Xinhua, 07/02/09. http://www.hindujobs.com/thehindu/holnus/003200902071023.htm

Electricity service in Yangon will resume on a quota basis days after the supply was cut late in January, sources with the Yangon City Electricity Supply Board said on Saturday. According to the sources, one third of the repair work on destroyed towers on the Lawpita-Toungoo transmission line near Thaukyaykhat creek that provides electriic power to the former capital of Myanmar has been completed. Full service would be restored soon, the sources said, estimating that complete resumption of electricity supply would be possible after the second week of February.

IMNA, 03/12/08 http://www.bnionline.net/news/imna/5506-gas-pipeline-fails-near-lamine

The Kanbauk to Myaing Kalay gas pipeline burst near Lamine village, northern Ye Township, in the early morning of November 25th, say local sources, although the gas did not ignite. A resident who lives near the pipeline said she heard a loud sound. The pipeline appears to have failed at a joint between two sections of pipe. Villagers say a large crack is visible at the seam between the two pipe sections. Local sources report that the flow of gas was shut down and the crack in the pipeline repaired by the end of the day. Trains between Lamine and Ye were also canceled on the 25th because the tracks pass close to the pipeline. Residents who live close to the line live in fear that explosions which occur from time to time along the line will cause their homes to be destroyed by fire. According to a report issued by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland in September, this has happened at least fifteen times since pipeline construction in the region started in 1998. Villagers are also forced to guard the pipeline from rebels and face violent retribution should an attack or explosion occur.

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