Aizawl, May 15: Construction on the Serlui B (Bilkhawthlir) hydel project is now on in full swing, after years of delay, and is likely to be commissioned by December 2007.

The 415.8-metre-long diversion tunnel was completed on Saturday. Mizoram principal secretary Haukhuma Hauzel detonated the final blast. Power and electricity chief engineer C. Thangliana, Neepco officials, the contractors? representatives and media persons witnessed the completion blast and walked through the newly completed tunnel after the explosion.

?Today is an important milestone in the implementation of the Serlui B hydel project. The project, launched in 1980, has been kept in suspended animation for many years, owing to lack of funds and other obstacles. The state government had taken up the project with revised estimates. Now we see that it is moving fast towards implementation,? Hauzel said during a short ceremony at the construction site.

The completion of the diversion tunnel will pave the way for construction of the main dam., an official said. ?With the completion of the diversion tunnel, we can say that 60 per cent of the project has been completed,? said project division executive engineer Lalrinkima.

The diversion tunnel, whose diameter is 3.75 metres, will be used later for a power tunnel. This tunnel is the first one in a hydro-power project in the state, the construction of which has been supervised by Mizo engineers.

According to the revised estimates, the 4x3 MW (total 12 MW) Serlui B project costs Rs 85 crore. Of this, Rs 22.5 crore has been funded by the Union ministry of non-conventional energy sources while a Rs 40-crore loan had been obtained from the Rural Electricity Corporation, Thangliana said. The chief engineer said the government would provide the rest of the funds, adding that the hydel project will meet 20 per cent of the state?s total power requirements.

The project work was undertaken by the BHEL-Mecon Consortium, which employed Patel Engineering Ltd as a sub-contractor.

Officials said compensation for the dam project has been cleared.

?While Rs 1.71 crore has been paid to the forest department, another Rs 5.9 crore has been disbursed to private landowners,? the officials said.

The dam will affect an area of 24 square km and a village, which has been shifted out of the area. Officials explained that Serlui B has an advantage in that it has a large plain in its vicinity.

?The hydel project will irrigate all of the Chemphai and Saiphai cultivable lands,? an official said.