Tuirial Project To Be Completed by 2014

Aizawl, Nov 21 : The abandoned Tuirial hydro power project, revived from April this year, is expected to generate power by 2014.

The public investment board (PIB) had last year given its nod to the Union power ministry’s proposal to revive the 60MW hydel project near Bilkhawtlir, about 135km from Aizawl.

''After arduous work of removing scrubs, trees and weeds, construction works actually began from September this year. At present, we are working on two diversion tunnels, 782 metres each, which we hope to complete by January next year,'' Gard, general manager of Patel Engineering Ltd, told visiting journalists on Friday.

The hydel project is designed to generate 60 MW of power 12 per cent of which would be shared by the state.

Works on the hydel project to produce electricity by harnessing the Tuirial river, initially pegged at Rs 359 crore, came to a grinding halt during the Mizo National Front ministry in 2003 following compensation row.

When Lal Thanhawla, who had laid the foundation stone during his previous tenure on September 12, 2007, came back in power, he took initiatives to revive the abandoned project.

Finally, the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (Neepco) was saddled with the responsibility to install the power plant with a revised outlay fixed at Rs 913 crore. The Neepco has awarded the contract to Patel Engineering Ltd.

The power tariff in the first year after commissioning of this much-vaunted project has been fixed at Rs 3.70 per unit.

A senior official of power and electricity, who accompanied the journalists at the site, said the government of Mizoram would get 12 per cent of the power generated from the hydel project free of cost.

Mizoram, at present, is a power-deficit state where the demand for power is 120MW while supply from various sources, including the state power department, is approximately 60MW.

The project envisaged the construction of a 77-metre-high earthen dam across Tuirial, a tributary of the Barak.

A surface power station on the left bank of the river at the toe of this dam would be constructed at Bilkhawtlir for generation of 60MW of power at 45 per cent load factor.

Patel engineers complained of bad roads connecting the project site. Road from Bilkhawthlir to Serlui B hydel project was okay, but the remaining road-from Serlui B project to Tuirial project-remained unmaintained since long time back, they said.

The 27-kilometre track from Saiphai to the project site took three hours.

The engineers requested the state works department to repair the road to ensure expeditious works.

In Bangladesh, Tipaimukh Dam Pact Sparks Fresh Row

Dhaka, Nov 21 : Though the Ministry of External Affairs has promised to provide Bangladesh with details of the agreement on the construction of the Tipaimukh Dam in Manipur, the very signing of the deal has sparked a fresh controversy.

Following media reports and criticism, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Saturday, disclosing that India had promised to give details of the deal signed recently by National Hydro Power Company, Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd. and the Manipur government to build the 1,500-MW project.

“The Indian External Affairs Ministry has referred to the assurances given by India at the highest level in this regard,” the statement said. “We will also remain in close contact with them.”

Criticism of Hasina

Since the deal was signed without any knowledge of Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi experts, Opposition parties and the media have blamed the government for failing to take diplomatic steps to stop the dam construction, arguing that it is in breach of India's commitment and it will harm the country's interests.

They have also criticised the Sheikh Hasina government for its “imprudence” of relying on India's “non-binding assurances” on the dam. And environmentalists have expressed grave concerns at the ecological, economic and, above all, human consequences the dam would have for Bangladesh.

Abdul Matin, head of the water resource engineering department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, who visited the site as part of a team of experts, said: “The devastating effects … have long been discussed. Under the circumstances, this supposedly undisclosed agreement is a massive diplomatic failure.”

Experts' warning

Environmentalists and agriculture experts have warned that the twin dams, at Tipaimukh and Phulertal, across the cross-border Barak river would dry up rivers and waterbodies downstream, rendering vast farmland arid, hitting agriculture and threatening food security in the north-eastern districts of Bangladesh.

M. Inamul Haque, chairman of the Institute of Water and Environment, said: “The progress of the dam construction, despite [India's] repeated assurances to Bangladesh of not doing anything without taking its concerns into account, was revoked in the two joint declarations… [made] when the Bangladesh Prime Minister visited India in 2010 and the Indian Prime Minister visited Bangladesh in September.”

The agreement is also seen as “a violation of the framework agreement” signed between the two countries in Dhaka. “

The agreement for the construction of the Tipaimukh dam has made it clear that India is deviating from the formal and informal commitments it has made to Bangladesh,” said Ahsan Uddin Ahmed, executive director, Centre for Global Change.

A joint communiqué issued during Ms. Hasina's visit to New Delhi in January 2010 said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave the assurance that India would not take steps in respect of the Tipaimukh project that would adversely impact Bangladesh. He also reiterated the assurance in an identical statement during his return visit to Dhaka on September 6 this year.

Nagaland Chilli Eyes Guinness Record

Chilli Plant grows to 14 feet

Kohima, Nov 21 : Nagaland has set its sights on a record for the longest chilli plant, measuring over 14 feet, after featuring in the Guinness Book of World Records for the tallest rhododendron, measuring upto 108 feet and a nine-foot paddy plant.

Thepfusatuo Rio from Sovima village, nearly 8km from Dimapur, has grown a chilli plant measuring upto 14.7 feet.

It is expected to grow taller.

Rio said his plant has been growing for the past two years and bears more than 10kg of pungent chillies a year.

“The height of 14.7 feet that it has attained is quite surprising because it is not a hybrid plant,” he said.

He said he obtained the chilli plant from his father who resides at Chiechema village under Kohima district, two years ago.

The variety of chilli is locally known as sikhrano.

“We don’t know how this plant grew so tall because generally this variety grows to around 2.5 feet to 4.5 feet,” Rio said.

The plant would make an interesting topic for research, he added.

Unlike other local chillies, the sikhrano is hot but not as much as the Naga King Chilli, which has set a world record with a Scoville heat unit rating of 1,001,304 points.

The Naga King became the world’s hottest chilli in December last year.

A Naga King Chilli eating competition will also be held during the Hornbill Festival at Kisama from December 1-7.

People in and around Dimapur have trooped in to see the plant, but so far neither any research team nor anyone from the agriculture department has shown up.

Rio said many people had requested him for the seeds of the chilli plant.

The tallest rhododendron was discovered at Mount Japfu near Kohima.

The average rhododendron grows upto 10-15 feet but the state has a 108-foot tall rhododendron, which was discovered in 1993 and is still growing.

The pastor of the Chumukedima Town Baptist Church near Dimapur, Melhite Kenye, discovered the tallest paddy plant in 1999.

The plant recorded a height of 9 feet, 510 grains in each ear and a single stalk of the plant was as thick as a human finger.

In 2000, the saplings kept growing to a height of 9 feet.

Each ear of the tested plants had 340 grains.

Quake Hits Northeast India, Tremors Felt in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram

Guwahati, Nov 21 :  An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale rocked India's north-east, Myanmar and Bangladesh on Monday, triggering panic among people.

The tremor was felt at 8.47 am in most parts of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, besides in Bangladesh and Myanmar. There were also reports of mild tremors in Kolkata and some areas of north Bengal.

The epicentre of the quake was located at 24.947 N, 95.226 E in Myanmar, about 130 km east of Manipur capital Imphal, the website of US Geological Survey said.

So far, there has been no report of any loss of life or damage to property due to the quake.

Seven northeastern states - Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur - are considered by seismologists to be the sixth most earthquake-prone belt in the world.

The region experienced one of the worst earthquakes, measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale, in 1897, that claimed the lives of over 1,600 people.

In September, more than 50 people died after a killer quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale shook the region.

Zoramthanga Questions Sonia Faith

Aizawl, Nov 20 : Former Mizoram chief minister and chief of the opposition Mizo National Front (MNF), Zoramthanga, has questioned the religion of UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Addressing party workers at the Hnam Run MNF office in Aizawl, Zoramthanga alleged that Indian nationalism has sought to do away with other religions and nationalities in the name of secularism.

"Sonia Gandhi used to be a Roman Catholic, the most orthodox church among Christian church denominations," he said, adding that after she immersed herself in Indian nationalism it has become impossible to identify her religion. He further said that Indian nationalism is sacrificing other religions by trying to bring other nationalities into the mainstream.

"Equality of all religions was espoused in the name of secularism," he said.Slamming chief minister Lal Thanhawla and his wife for allegedly performing puja before a Hindu idol, Zoramthanga termed the incident as "most serious".

"The Congress tried to defend its leader by saying 'even our former governor attended a Christian church service', but the fact remains that the chief minister disobeyed the Bible," he said. He referred to the Bible and said Jesus Christ did not amend the Ten Commandments which says, "Thou shalt not have other Gods except Me and do not worship idols."

Lal Thanhawla and his wife have been in the line of fire of the MNF and the opposition parties after a Kolkata-based English newspaper published a photograph showing them lighting candles before an idol of a Hindu goddess.

Mizoram Students in Village Forced To Stay Away From School

Aizawl, Nov 20 : Parents of the 50 students are forced to keep their children away from the government primary school-I at Bualpui North village in Kolasib district which is virtually non-functional.

Aggrieved by poor teaching at the school, the parents prevented their children from attending classes from yesterday, after their repeated complaints to the authorities had allegedly fallen on deaf ears.

The agitating parents planned to submit a letter to concerned Kawnpui sub-divisional education officer (SDEO) on Friday, but postponed it for Monday as the official was not available. According to sources, the school has three teachers, one regular and two contractual SSA teachers for the 50 students.

The head teacher, who is regular, and one SSA teacher came to the school from Kawnpui, about 15-km from the village.

Only one teacher actually lived at the village, the parents said.

The teachers attend school very regularly, but they teach for only one period a day, leaving the students to play outside for the rest of the day, a parent said over phone.

He alleged that some class three students are unable to read and write their lessons correctly, while some others cannot tell a letter M from N.

The old head teacher, who is the only regular teacher, often sent his daughter on his behalf.

When his daughter came, the students learnt better as she is more active than her father, the parents said.

The parents had informed about the poor teaching in the school to the village education committee and the village council who also inspected the school.

The concerned SDEO had also talked to the VEC, VC and the teachers, but without any positive results.

The parents said members of the VEC and the VC also threw up their hands in despair and told them to do whatever we think is good for the school and the students.

Mizo Air Travellers May Miss Kingfisher

Aizawl, Nov 20 : Air travellers in Mizoram are likely to bid goodbye to Kingfisher flights as the cash-strapped private airline is reportedly planning to discontinue services to the state s sole airport.

Sources said Lengpui Airport in Aizawl is among several airports, including Agartala and Silchar in the Northeast, which Kingfisher is pulling out from.

Sources quoted Kingfisher officials as saying air services to these cities had been often disrupted by weather conditions in the past.

However, the state civil aviation officials said they were yet to be informed of the Kingfisher s plans to pull out.

At present, Kingfisher operates flights between Aizawl and Kolkata thrice a week.

The officials said as Air India and Jet Airways operate daily flights, there had been no shortage of air services so far.

Meningitis Claims Lives Of 12 Infants in Mizoram

Aizawl, Nov 20 : At least 12 infants have died due to meningitis during the past 45 days in Mizoram’s Saiha district bordering Myanmar, health officials on Saturday said.

Five infants below the age of one year died during November while seven infants died in October.

14 additional beds have been squeezed into the 50-bedded Saiha district hospitals in view of the rising number of patients, the officials said, adding even free clinics have been organised in the remotest villages to safe the infants.

The officials said the situation in the area might have been aggravated due to malnutrition among locals, especially among the infants.