Mizoram seeks early completion of project connecting India and Myanmar

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga urged the Centre to take initiative for early completion of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project. He also asked foreign secretary-designate Harsh Vardhan Shringla to expedite the construction work under the project in Myanmar side.

Mizoram: The Mizoram government has sought the Centre's intervention for early completion of Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, a bilateral initiative of India and Myanmar, sources said on Thursday.

Chief Minister Zoramthanga on Wednesday evening called on foreign secretary-designate Harsh Vardhan Shringla in New Delhi and asked him to expedite the construction work under the project in Myanmar side.

"The chief minister also urged the Centre to take initiative for early completion of the project," the sources said. Zoramthanga also talked about the importance of strengthening the Indo-Myanmar ties, they said.

On completion, the project will connect both the countries by sea and road routes. It will first link the Kolkata port to Sittwe seaport in Myanmar through the 539 km-long waterway in the Bay of Bengal and then connect Paletwa, a western Myanmarese town, through Kaladan river.

Under the project, Paletwa will also be connected to the India-Myanmar border by a 110-km-long road in the neighbouring country. The border will be connected by 87.18 km-long road with Mizoram's Lawngtlai town 87.18 km where the National Highway 54 passes by.

The construction of the road in Mizoram side began in 2010 and state PWD officials said that more than 82 per cent of the work has been completed so far. Though the construction of the road in the northeastern state under the KMMTT project is scheduled to be completed by March this year, it can get delayed due to compensation row.

Lawngtlai District Land Owners' Association had served a 'stay order' to two constructing agencies on January 13 after the state government allegedly cancelled the detailed project report (DPR) for compensation amounting to more than Rs 50 crore. The association, however, withdrew it on January 14 but demanded the immediate release of compensation to about 303 landowners.

The landowners' body has threatened to go for indefinite strike from March if the government fails to meet its demand.