Aizawl, Feb. 1: Mizoram chief secretary Haukhum Hauzel said today that the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transport Project will be implemented soon.

Hauzel said a meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s office on January 19 to study the detailed project report prepared by the Rail India Technical and Engineering Services (Rites). The principal secretary to the Prime Minister and foreign secretary attended the meeting.

Hauzel said a waterway would be opened from the Myanmar port of Sittwe up the Kaladan (or Kolodyne) river, which flows through Mizoram to the small port of Kaletwa in Myanmar. The project aims at connecting Mizoram with Kaletwa through this 62-km corridor.

Hauzel, however, said since Mizoram would still not have a port of its own, he has proposed that instead of a road from Kaletwa to the Mizoram border, the waterway should reach right up to Mizoram.

“Since there were no objections to the proposal, we are hopeful of having a port on the Kaladan river. Officials at the meeting instructed Rites to carry out a survey on the feasibility of ships travelling into Mizoram,” he said.

He, however, added that he is unaware of what kind of a waterway will allow ships to travel into Mizoram.

The distance between Kaletwa and Sittwe on the Kaladan river is 222 km. The cost of the project for developing Sittwe port and the terminal at Kaletwa, upgrading the waterway between Kaletwa and Sittwe and constructing a road from Kaletwa to the Mizoram border has been pegged at Rs 545.85 crore.

The estimated cost for construction of a road from the border connecting it to National Highway 54 is Rs 315.1 crore.

Thus the total estimated amount for the project would be Rs 860.95 crore.

Hauzel said the timeframe for completing the project, including ports and waterways, is four years. Three years have been allotted for the construction of roads from Kaletwa to the Mizoram border and from the border to the NH 54 inside Mizoram.

Hauzel said the works might be started together and not in phases.

Lok Sabha MP Vanlalzawma said the project had come across a financial hurdle from Myanmar. “However,” he said, “This hurdle has been cleared. Myanmar had to provide 10 million US dollars as its share. Since Myanmar was unwilling to invest the money, India agreed to provide a soft loan at about 2.5 per cent annual interest for this sum.”

He added that officials from the ministry of finance have informed him that the amount has been sanctioned. “Despite India giving Bangladesh Rs 100 crore annually to maintain the Brahmaputra waterway it has failed to do so. With the strained relationship India shares with this country, the Centre wants an alternative route to the sea from the Northeast,” he said.