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Japan's sanctions affect Mizo hydel project

The North-Eastern state of Mizoram is facing the impact of economic sanctions imposed by Japan against India following the Pokhran nuclear explosions.

Japan has shelved its Rs 2.75 billion overseas economic co-operation fund for the 210 mega-watt Tuivai hydel project, the biggest in the state.

This was stated by Chief Minister Lalthanhawla in New Delhi today. He met with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and submitted a memorandum highlighting some of the long-pending projects and sought his intervention to get them cleared quickly.

They include the Greater Aizawl Water Supply Scheme. Technical clearance has been obtained for this Rs 1.76 billion project and foundation stone was also laid.

The second one is the state referral hospital. This project has been cleared and the Central expert team had also visited the proposed site.

These two projects were cleared under the prime minister's economic package for the North-East.

Lathanhawla pointed out that a sum of Rs 16 billion was unspent from the non-lapsable pool fund for the North-East.

The Centre had decided to pool ten per cent of the Budget allocations of each of the ministries to generate funds for the north-east to finance development activities in the region.

The chief minister wanted that this amount be utilised to build a national highway type road linking Sairang in Mizoram to Maran Road in Tripura to provide an alternative link with the outside world for this landlocked state.

Lalthanhawla said the prime minister had agreed to inaugurate the Lengupui airport, 35 km west of Aizawl next month.

This modern airport can handle Boeing and Airbus aircraft of the Indian Airlines. On September 1, the Indian Airlines will launch what is called the probing flight to pave way for regular flights. The airlines proposes to operate two flights a week. But the Mizoram government wants three flights a week. Till the Lengpui airport is fully operational, Calcutta-Aizawl-Imphal-Aizawl-Calcutta Dornear flights will continue operation from Calcutta to Aizawl.

The memorandum pointed out that in February 1987, Mizoram became a full-fledged state with a loan burden of Rs 1.93 billion pertaining to the Union Territory period. The Centre had later written-off liabilities amounting to Rs 1.20 billion, leaving the balance of Rs 725.1 million as state's liability.

It said, since May 1993, the council of ministers of Mizoram had been submitting memoranda to every Union minister and prime ministers visiting the state urging them to write-off this balance since the state was passing through acute financial crisis.

Two decades of insurgency had halted the socio-economic progress of Mizoram. After signing the peace accord, the state is now almost peaceful.

Therefore, the memorandum pleaded that ''as a goodwill gesture towards maintenance of peace in the state, we (Council of Ministers) strongly urge that the Central government should give relief to the state government by extending generous financial assistance, as a premium for maintaining peace''.

Elaborating various steps taken by the government to economise non-plan expenditure, the chief minister pointed out in the memorandum that Rs 630 million would be raised through economy measures and additional resource mobilisation.

UNI