Nagaland project inspires Mizoram

DIMAPUR, April 13 – Inspired by the successful implementation of ‘Communitisation of public institution/service’ at the grassroots level in Nagaland, a High Powered Committee (HPC) of Mizoram has undertaken a tour of the State with the purpose of studying and witnessing its actual operating mechanism and district level planning.

Nagaland has received recognition and award at the national and international level for the successful implementation of ‘Communitisation of public institution/service’ at the grassroots level in the State.

The HPC, constituted by the Government of Mizoram, is contemplating to evolve a suitable and a viable system of participative decentralised planning to suit the local conditions. Keeping this in view, an interaction with the Communitised departments of Nagaland was held at the Chief Secretary’s conference hall, in Kohima. Officers from the Departments of Health and Family Welfare, PHE, Power, Education and Rural Development gave power point presentations on their projects, status of implementation and the responses and challenges of communitisation in the State.

V Sakhrie, Commissioner and Secretary, Rural Development, during an interactive session, shared that “not everything about Communitisation is a success, there are loopholes but we are trying to fill in the gaps and address the challenges in the best possible way”.

The visiting Mizo team headed by it vice chairman, Joseph Lalhlimpuia, MLA Lalchhuanawma Hrahsel, chief planning officer, HPC-L, Dr Lalrinchhanna, senior research officer, HPC-L and L Colney, former Chief Secretary of Nagaland also visited Rusoma village and had an interaction with the different committees on the implementation of the Communitisation process in their village.

Joseph Lalhlimpuia, expressed his appreciation and congratulated the State for successfully implementing the concept of Communitisation.

Fencing-affected border residents of Mizoram go on strike

Aizawl/Agartala, April 9 (IANS) People affected by the fencing on the India-Bangladesh frontier Tuesday called an indefinite shutdown in the border areas of Mizoram while their counterparts in Tripura threatened to launch a similar stir to demand their immediate rehabilitation.
“The strike was inevitable as both central and state governments have turned a deaf ear to the repeated pleas of the affected families for their due compensation and rehabilitation,” a statement released in Aizawl by the Indo-Bangla Border Fencing Affected Families Resettlement Demand Committee.

A senior Mizoram home ministry official told reporters that the committee has called an indefinite strike in Mizoram’s three southern districts of Lawngtla, Lungle and Saiha.

According to the official, the shutdown severely affected normal life in the three border districts. Most shops and businesses establishments, government and semi-government offices and educational institutions remained closed, while traffic was thin.

The central home ministry is erecting a barbed wire fence along its 4,095-km long border with Bangladesh running through five states - West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram - to curb infiltration, smuggling, trans-border movement of militants and other anti-national activities.

Around 2,900 km of fencing has so far been completed and work on the remaining portion is on.

Many government institutions, religious places, irrigation projects, government schools and many markets along the border with Tripura and Mizoram have fallen within the stipulated 150-metre belt from the zero line of the border.

An estimated 8,730 families in Tripura and over 1,500 families in Mizoram, whose homes and farmlands have fallen outside the barbed wire fence being erected along the border with Bangladesh, have been demanding the government rehabilitate them.

“We would soon launch a relay hunger strike if the government does not take any steps to rehabilitate the fencing-affected bordering villagers,” said Samar Das, a leader of the affected people in Tripura.

Tripura’s Finance and Revenue minister Badal Chowdhury told IANS that the government could not rehabilitate those affected families due to scarcity of funds.”

“The Tripura government had sent a Rs.93-crore proposal to the centre long back to rehabilitate the affected families, but the union government is yet to sanction any funds for this purpose,” he said.

“While the central government has sanctioned homes for a few hundred families under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), the state government has spent Rs.10 crore to rehabilitate and construct homes of 4,000 affected families,” the minister added.

Pneumonia tops list deadly diseases in Mizoram

Aizaw: Pneumonia was the biggest killer disease in Mizoram last year claiming 143 lives compared to malaria which claimed 119 lives.

According to state health and family welfare records, 491 people in Mizoram fell prey to diseases- 245 due to communicable diseases and 246 due to non-communicable diseases-during the previous year.

Pneumonia topped the communicable diseases list killing 143 people of 4437 people contracting the disease, the source said.

The department also recorded that 68 persons died of accidents, most of them vehicular.

While as many as 21670 people were infected with acute diarrhoea, only 15 of them died. No case of polio was detected, 158 people caught tetanus of which one person died.

Four persons died of typhoid and enteric fever, four people (all women) died of hepatitis B. Among the 159 people infected by hepatitis CDE, three women died.

The department also recorded that 27 persons, including 12 women died of AIDS whereas tuberculosis claimed 11 lives.

Hypertension claimed the lives of 17 persons in 2009 Heart trouble also killed 7 people.

Hypertension-related problems claimed 42 persons, the health officials said.

While 25 people died of diabetes, bronchitis and asthma killed 12 and 15 respectively, the death toll for emphysemas was recorded to be 5.

Cancer, the disease Mizoram has topped the world in, claimed 51 lives during 2009, the health officials added.

100km road from Mizoram to neighbouring port to cost Rs 600cr

Silchar, APR 1: The Centre will build a modern highway spanning 99.82km between Lawngtlai town in south Mizoram to Sittwe port in northwest Myanmar on the Bay of Bengal to establish a sea link between several states in the Northeast, including Mizoram, Assam and Manipur with other parts of the country.

Union minister for national highways and transport Kamal Nath will arrive in Aizawl on April 24 to lay the foundation of the multi-modal road transport project in Lawngtlai, 335km from Aizawl. Though this project was approved four years ago after New Delhi got the clearance of Myanmar, the subsequent delay led to the escalation of the cost of the scheme from Rs 420crore to a whopping Rs 600crore.

This road, whose construction will be completed in two years, will unveil a transit access for goods and people between India and Myanmar as part of the Open Asia policy among the nations of the continent.

Sources in Aizawl said more fresh schemes for the improvement of road infrastructure and sea links are now in the pipeline, and the official delegations between India and Myanmar are busy in giving shape and finding out resources to give a go-ahead to some of the schemes. The sources added that other schemes envisaged area network of roads between towns in the Chin hills and Arakan Yoma, including Paletwa and Tiddim on Myanmar’s borders with Mizoram and Manipur to facilitate trade, cultural exchanges and tourism between the two countries and upgrade the waterways of Kaladan river flowing through Mizoram’s southern borders to Myanmar.

The sources also said improvement of the Sittwe port was on the cards. At present, Indian and Myanmarese businessmen exchange produce of the two countries in a Rs 12crore international trade centre at a village near Champhai in west Mizoram.

While India trades in cement, bicycle parts, medicines and horticulture products of Mizoram, from Myanmar handicrafts and clothes, apart from electronics goods and shoes, arrive in plenty.
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Source: The Telegraph

2 killed, churches damaged as storm sweeps Mizoram

Aizawl, Apr 1 : At least two persons were killed and 2,900 houses damaged as a storm swept across Mizoram snappping communication and power in different parts of the state last night.

A 60-year-old man was killed in house collapse and three persons, including the old man's grand son, were seriosly injured in IOC Veng locality of Serchhip, official sources said.

Another person was killed as a tree, uprooted by strong wind, fell on him at West Phaileng village in Mamit district during the same time.

The gale, called 'to' in local parlance, coupled with hailstorm in Mizoram, had struck different parts of the state since Sunday night and rendered at least 5,000 people homeless, officials of the state Disaster Management and Relief said today.

Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla informed the state assembly today that officials were working overtime to deliver relief materials to the affected people.

Pneumonia claims 143 lives in Mizoram in 2009

Aizawl, March 30 : Pneumonia has claimed 143 lives during the year 2009 in Mizoram, according to health & family welfare department, government of Mizoram. The data further revealed that 4437 people have been diagnosed as pneumonia in the same period.

Overall, the department highlighted that 491 people have died due to various disease in govt hospital. Out of this, 246 patients were victims of non-communicable disease while 245 died due to communicable diseases. It further said 68 people also died due to road accidents out of the total 17494 victims admitted in various hospitals.

While as many as 21670 people were infected with acute diarrhoea, only 15 of them died. No case of polio was detected, 158 people caught tetanus of which one person died.

Four persons died of typhoid and enteric fever, four people (all women) died of hepatitis B. It is also recorded that 27 persons, including 12 women died of AIDS whereas tuberculosis claimed 11 lives.

Cancer, the disease Mizoram has topped the world in, claimed 51 lives during 2009, the health officials added. Hypertension-related problems claimed 42 persons, the health officials said.

No lives have been lost due to snake bites notwithstanding 195 people admitted with snake bites, the record said.

Neepco signs pact with Mizoram Govt

AIZAWL: Neepco (North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd) and the Mizoram Government have signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) here to take up three hydro electric projects having a total capacity of 1,526 MW.
Addressing a press conference on Friday night, Mr I.P. Barooah, Neepco Chairman and Managing Director, said the MoA was for setting up of 635-MW Chhimtuipui project, 815-MW Lungreng project and 76-MW Mat hydro electric project.
“Neepco would first carry out field investigations, which would take around 18 months, and thereafter subject to techno-commercial viability and necessary mandatory clearances, the projects would be taken up for execution,” Mr Barooah said.
He said with strong support received from the State Government and the Centre, the abandoned 60-MW Turial hydro electric project is in the final stages of revival and likely to commence work within three months after obtaining fresh clearances from the U nion Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
The Turial project was delayed for six years due to law and order problems over claims of compensation by the land owners for the areas proposed to be submerged. The project cost was revised to Rs 880 crore and would produce power at Rs 3.70 per unit, he said. — PTI