After 2 Decades, Rail Expansion in Northeast To Be A Reality

Arunachal and Meghalaya to be on the railway map soon

After suffering from scarcity of funds and challenging law and order situation for about two decades, India Railways' expansion in the North East is finally gaining some momentum. Three out of the five key railway projects, identified by the Prime Minister’s office as ‘critical’ for the North East, near their completion.   

The ones about to be completed include the first rail connectivity to Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh along with crucial gauge conversion between Rangpara to North Lakhimpur which will connect Arunachal Pradesh to the rest of the country. The three projects cost a total of more than Rs 3,000 crore. “Our deadlines for the first rail connectivity to Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh are set at March 2014, and we will achieve it this time," said a Railway Board official.  

The North East region bordering China is strategically important for India but lack of funds and adverse law and order situation have kept it infrastructure starved. Officials in the Department of North East Region, however, pointed out development of the North East found a special mention in the XI and XII Plan. "This has helped in fastracking projects in the region."

Dudhnoi-Mendhipathar, a 20 km line in Meghalaya in the Garo hills, costing about Rs 180 crore has been in works for good two decades. Announced in the budget of 1992-93, the line faced several hurdles. “There was severe law and order problem. Railway officials had been kidnapped in the past. Locals resisted fearing that with rail connectivity, illegal immigrants would settle here. Things have improved, but we have to be careful,” said a senior official at North East Frontier Railway.

Officials also said the work on ground was in full swing. Land acquisition for the line was complete. Three major bridges on the line have also been completed along with 50 minor bridges needed on the hilly terrain. “It’s a tough terrain that we are working on,” said another official closely linked with the project.

Harmati-Naharlagun, another 20 km line in Arunachal Pradesh, announced way back in 1996-97, would cost railways about Rs 407 crore. The line would also have its first run in March 2014. It was identified as a line crucial to the national security in the last Railway budget because of the presence of Chinese Railway on the state borders. 

"China is heavily investing into domestic and trans-ASEAN network and India has failed to catch up to that. The importance of connectivity in the North-East is self evident; it’s our link to the ASEAN. The post 1962 war psychosis that if we build roads into the North-East it might be a way for potential security threat, is one that has to go away," says C. Uday Bhaskar, Fellow at the Society for Policy Studies, a Delhi based think tank.

 “There are some high power lines crossing the Railway alignment, we have asked the Power grid corporation to realign them soon,” said a senior official at NEF Railway who also asserted that the Railways would complete the work on time on this line.

Gauge Conversion of Rangiya- Murkongselek ,a 510 km line, from meter gauge to broad gauge was declared a national project in 2007. Planned to be completed in three phases, 123 kilometer of the track work is already complete. PMO had identified the second phase, Rangpara to North Lakhimpur, 172 kilometer track to be completed on priority basis.  

Tracks have been linked; station and yard works are in process. The target has been set at March, 2014. The project was announced in 2003-2004 and since then has faced the obvious troubles like lack of funds. Railway officials also stressed that there is also a dearth of good contractors in the region, along with frequent strikes that affect the execution of the work.

The ministry of finance had agreed to provide additional Rs 400 crore for the above three projects in July this year.

However, Railway officials in the NEF Railway highlighted the perpetual lack of funds that has stalled about 10 projects in the region ranging from new lines to the gauge conversion costing over Rs 20,000 crore.

“We got about Rs 2,400 crore from the Ministry of Railways this year, but the demand is about Rs 4500 a year. We have the capacity to increase the speed of the projects and expedite the completion,” said a senior Railway official at NEF Railway.

Two other crucial projects in the North East-Bogibeel bridge connecting the North and South Bank in Arunachal Pradesh, costing about Rs 4,500 crore  is expected to be completed by 2016, but officials express their doubt by saying that it ‘depends on the availability of funds’. Similarly Lumdig-Silchar gauge conversion announced way back in 1996 might have to wait little longer for its completion.

Key railway projects in North East

Name of the project	Length/Cost	Type	Current Status/ Deadline
1. Harmati- Naharlagun	20 KM/ Rs 407 crore	First Rail Connectivity to Arunachal Pradesh	Overall progress about 80%. Complete Funds released for the project. March 2014
2. Dudhnoi-Mendipathar	20 KM/ Rs 176 crore	Rail Connectivity to Meghalaya	Overall progress about 70%. All three major bridges on the line completed./March 2014
3. Rangapara-North Lakhimpur	510 km/ Rs 176 crore	Gauge Conversion Project	About 80% of the construction work completed./March 2014
4. Lumdig-Silchar	482 KM/ Rs 4255 crore	Gauge Conversion Project	About 80% of the construction work completed. Two key tunnels completed./2015-16
5. Bogibeel Bridge-Connecting the North and South Bank of Assam	Rs 4,500 crore	Bridge Construction	Expected to be completed in 2016. International companies involved in this project-German Ramboll-Consulting Engineering Group which is designing the project. L&T is also involved in the construction. Construction work in progress. About 50% of the funds released

 

Mizoram Poll Watchdog Sets Tough Poll Rules

Aizawl, Oct 22 : Mizoram's powerful election watchdog, the Mizoram People Forum, has prohibited door-to-door campaigning within 10 days of poll day, and forbidden parties from setting up campaign offices or organising public rallies without its consent or participation.

Mizoram People Forum (MPF) is a conglomeration of several churches and the state's largest voluntary organisations. All registered political parties have signed a covenant with the MPF ahead of polls.

MPF leaders have also said that even the star campaigners of national parties — a reference to Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi — would, as per the covenant, have to address public meetings only with the forum's consent.

The forum has also criticised as "suppression of democracy" the actions that groups like the Hmar People's Conference (Democratic) took before the rural bypolls in July, and called on all groups to not repeat these tactics.

The state Election Commission had then postponed the filing of nominations by two days after the Hmar Welfare Committee — a group whose leaders include official spokespersons of the HPC(D) — asked candidates from political parties to stay away and allow only Independents to file nominations in order to "show solidarity" with the demand for an autonomous district council for the region.

The MPF began to actively pursue the role of an election watchdog in the last Assembly elections of 2008, when parties across the board abided by the rules it set. The forum has no powers to take action against candidates and parties who refuse to fall in line, but it has in the past made public announcements about the alleged use of money-power by some candidates.

The Election Commission has been supportive of the Mizoram People Forum. Asked by reporters about the contradiction inherent in a church-sponsored body playing a role in a secular election, Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer Ashwani Kumar said at a recent press conference that the Election Commission's and MPF's aims were similar, i.e., to ensure free and fair elections.

Mizo Musicians Unhappy With MPF Diktat

Aizawl, Oct 22 : Mizoram People’s Forum (MPF), church-backed election watchdog has struck the wrong notes for musicians in Mizoram, who have traditionally made extra money campaigning for political parties or individuals.

The Mizo Zaimi Inzawmkhawm (MZI), a federation of Mizo singers and musicians, has slammed the no-music appeal to political parties by Mizoram People’s Forum (MPF), saying that singers act as crowd pullers and that it would deny them the opportunity to augment their income in these ‘troubled times’.

MZI leader Lalengmawia said the forum’s bid to remove entertainment from the polls was uncalled for.

“Singers are crowd pullers in music-mad Mizoram, and assembly polls come only once in five years,” he said.

Others said the MPF was trying to outdo the Election Commission in enforcing electoral discipline.

A spokesperson of the forum denied issuing any diktat but said it was to cut down noise and minimise election-related  expenditure by political parties.

EC to Consider Demand For Change in Mizoram Poll Schedule

The Assembly polls are slated on December 4 and counting will take place on December 8 and organisations and parties are demanded that both the dates be advanced.

New Delhi, Oct 22 : With several leaders, NGOs and religious organisations requesting for change in the date for assembly polls in Christian-dominated Mizoram, the Election Commission will take a call on the issue at its meeting here tomorrow.

Political parties, churches and NGOs have sought change in the dates of polling and counting of votes as the polling day coincides with the time when the Mizoram Synod, the highest decision-making body of the Presbyterian, will hold state-wide conference in Aizawl and the counting day falls on Sunday, a sacred day for Christians.

The Assembly polls are slated on December 4 and counting will take place on December 8 and organisations and parties are demanded that both the dates be advanced.

They have sought that instead of polling on December 4 along with Delhi, it may be held on November 25 along with Madhya Pradesh polls and counting be taken up on December 6.

A delegation of Congress leaders today met Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath and Election Commissioner H S Brahma to seek a change in the dates.

The delegation comprising Luizinho Faleiro, AICC General Secretary, AICC Secretary of Legal and Human Rights department K C Mittal, C L Ruala, MP, Bhupen Kumar Borah, MLA, besides other Mizoram Congress leaders said, "It would be most appropriate and desirable to advance the date of polling to November 25."

They said since this is the period of festivity in Mizoram when most voters will be busy in church conferences during the week, many of them will not be able to vote and it will result in "deprivation of their voting rights".

Several organisations and major political parties of Mizoram have already submitted memoranda to the EC seeking change of assembly poll dates.

The Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), a conglomerate of leaders of 13 major churches in the state, has also pleaded with the EC to change the polling and counting dates.

Hot Mud Eruption in Manipur

Imphal, Oct 22 : A team of experts, including geologists, on Monday rushed to Manipur's Ukhrul district to study the unprecedented eruption of hot water mixed with soil at the remote Tusom village bordering Myanmar. So far, no casualty has been reported.

On October 13, following a loud explosion, chunks of hot mud erupted from the hills, streamed down the slopes and got deposited in low-lying areas, including rivers and roads.

The mudslide, besides killing some fishes and damaging a portion of forest land, also blocked the road connecting the village in Chingai sub-division with Ukhrul district headquarters, a source said. He added that there is no report of villagers fleeing their homes after the incident.

He added that the eruption continued till Sunday.

Chingai constituency legislator and deputy speaker MK Preshow told TOI that a team of experts, including geologists from the industries department, rushed to the spot to study the situation and find the cause of the eruption.

Preshow ruled out any possibility of a volcanic eruption. "Since Tousom village is about 3 kms from the spot, there is nothing to fear," he said.

Preshow nevertheless said necessary measures will be taken up for the safety of the villagers if there is likelihood of further destruction in the village. "We have intimated the state environment officials and they are also going there soon. To clear the blocked road, heavy machinery, including earth pullers, have been sent to the village," he said. DC (Ukhrul) S K Chaurasia said the district administration is awaiting a report from the field officers, including the concerned SDO, for doing the needful.

Mizoram Elections: Political Parties Seek Removal Of Poll Officer Over Poll Dates

By Adam Halliday

Aizawl, Oct 21 : Six political parties in Mizoram on Thursday submitted a joint memorandum to the Election Commission of India demanding the removal of Mizoram's Chief Electoral Officer Ashwani Kumar.

The joint submission came hours after representatives of these parties walked out of a stormy meeting at Kumar's office to discuss their earlier requests to reschedule dates set for elections and vote counting.

At the meeting, even church leaders threatened they may in the future be unable to support the ECI in terms of awareness campaigns and exhorting members to cast their votes if the ECI does not meet their present request.

Party representatives of the Congress, BJP, TMC, Mizo National Front, Mizoram People's Conference and Zoram Nationalist Party had walked out about half-an-hour into the meeting, which was also attended by church leaders and some NGOs.

Parties, NGOs and church leaders from a dozen denominations had last week written to the CEO requesting the date of polling be shifted to November 25 from December 4 as two large denominations-Presbyterians and Pentecostals-are scheduled to organize their annual meetings in the first week of December.

While the Presbyterians expect at least 4,000 people from across the state to participate in its annual meeting, the Pentecostals expect half that number who would also be engaged and therefore be unable to cast their votes if polling day is not rescheduled.

They also requested that the date of counting of votes, set for December 8, be rescheduled to fall on any day except Saturday and Sunday, the latter being a holy day for Christians that make up close to 90 percent of the state's population.

At the 11 am meeting at his office, Kumar said the ECI had discussed the requests at a meeting on Tuesday and that the poll panel had conveyed to him it would be "really difficult" to reschedule the date of polls and that it was "scared of setting a precedent".

"This was the concern communicated by the EC and they asked me to communicate their concerns to you so you may accommodate their concerns," Kumar said, before distributing copies of a letter he wrote to the poll panel while forwarding the various groups' representations to the ECI.

In that letter, dated October 11, Kumar wrote, "To have 25th November, 2013 as the day of poll will not be sound because polling parties would have to be dispatched on Saturday and Sunday, which are stated to be inconvenient by the representationists [sic] themselves. Further, other church denominations may also have their own conferences and general Assemblies at some point in time in the year; in future they may also request if the date of election clashes with their conferences. It is therefore also an issue of setting a precedent. The dates of election are decided by the Commission after taking into account several factors. Had the Presbyterian Church or Pentecostal [sic] Church informed us about this, it could have been taken into account, particularly when the Commission has been strongly engaging itself towards greater and ethical voter participation.

"As such one option could be to request the Presbyterian Church/Pentecostal [sic] Church to postpone their General Assembly/Synod to 5th December onwards. If they persuade themselves to this reasonable suggestion, the issue would have resolved. If they accept the suggestion to postpone their conferences, it may only, to my mind, enhance their image of being reasonable. Otherwise, the Commission may consider accommodating their request, if possible, by fixing poll day on 27th November, 2013, which would be convenient in terms of logistics of sending and receiving polling parties," Kumar wrote.

He added in a later section, "It is true that a majority of population attends the Church service in the Churches of their respective denominations. Only one denomination namely Seventh Day Adventist conducts its worship day on Saturday.... Knowing this nature of Saturday/Sunday and the experience of change in the date of last Assembly election, this office had written to the Commission... that the date of election may be fixed any other day than Saturday and Sunday. As such, the Commission may kindly consider postponing the counting day to 9th December, 2013 (Monday)."

The politicians, church leaders and NGO representatives however disagreed and charged Kumar of unilaterally suggesting new dates in spite of them collectively requesting the polls be held on November 25. They however said they have no problems with the CEO's suggestion to the ECI to fix the date of counting votes to December 9.

While politicians and some NGO representatives walked out in protest, church leaders and leaders of NGOs linked with the church stayed behind and negotiated with the CEO for another half-an-hour, with Reverend C Biakmawia, the Presbyterian Church's finance officer and Reverend Lalzuithanga, Synod Executive Secretary, saying November 27 would be inconvenient since several high-level meetings that normally precede the general body meetings would begin on that day and participants would be unable to cast their votes.

Reverend Biakmawia also countered Kumar's recommendation to the ECI that Monday would be unsuitable for poll day since polling parties would have to be dispatched on Saturday and Sunday, saying in the past poll parties have been dispatched on Friday or Saturday, attended Church services on Sunday, and carried out their duties on Monday.

Strong words were exchanged later on in the meeting, with both the Reverends saying Mizoram's churches "have been trying their level best to cooperate with the ECI" in terms of creating awareness among its members and urging them to vote".

"If the ECI cannot cooperate with us on this present request, we may in the future find it difficult to cooperate with the ECI," they said, adding "You do not mind about our people who cannot cast their votes. You do not care about our religious sentiments."

Kumar countered, "I was told to appeal to you. I cannot prevail upon you. If you feel I am not toeing your line, please do not expect me to parrot your views." He added the churches and other groups had the option of sending their representations to the ECI directly and not route it through him.

It was only after the intervention of Joint CEO Lalengmawia-who said the good side of the meeting was that the CEO's office would send a feedback of the meeting to the ECI-that tempers appeared to be somewhat soothed.

In a few hours however, the churches sent their earlier representations directly to the ECI while the six political parties faxed a memorandum accusing the CEO of unilaterally coming to a decision even as they and others requested something else.

At a hurriedly called press conference later in the day, the party representatives said, "The CEO has disrespected Mizos and not giving importance to our request. We had, along with church leaders and NGOs, made a request for the poll date to be changed to a particular day. But he has unilaterally and on his own recommended another date. We feel the CEO is not mature enough to conduct the upcoming elections, and have therefore requested the Chief Election Commissioner to remove and replace him."

Mizoram Parties Unite in War on Deadly Party Drug

By Rahul Karmakar

Aizawl, Oct 21 : Political parties in poll-bound Mizoram may be at loggerheads over their politics but have a common agenda as well  — making New Delhi ban a pharmaceutical pill, manufactured in India, processed illegally in southeast Asia and smuggled back into the country as a lethal party drug, Meth.

Indian firms manufacture pseudoephedrine pills — used to treat nasal or sinus congestion — and sell them legally through pharmacies. But these pills have another use. Smuggled out through Mizoram and Manipur, drug barons in the notorious Golden Triangle — Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand — turn them into methamphetamine, aka meth.

Meth has virtually captured the space heroin and cannabis enjoyed in Mizoram for almost 30 years. The state is wary of the deadly web this drug has cast. Its consumption has claimed more lives than heroin in recent years.

The dip in heroin deaths has coincided with spike in meth deaths — five in 2012 and 16 till September 13 this year. Deaths due to heroin abuse fell from 11 in 2009 to three in 2012. Deaths due to intoxicating painkillers have also shown a dip. The abuse of Spasmo Proxyvon, Spasmocip and Parvon Spas killed 133 in 2003 and 37 last year.

“We seized 1,298 meth tablets between 2001 and 2011. The figure may not seem alarming, but meth is much more dangerous than heroin. And the 630 kg pseudoephedrine tablets we seized since 1999 is just the tip of the iceberg,” said excise and narcotics commissioner Lalbiakmawia Khiangte.

The modus operandiThe meth routes cut through half of Mizoram’s 40 assembly constituencies in Champhai, Serchhip, Lunglei, Saiha, Lawngtlai and Aizawl districts. Couriers sneak in through the porous Myanmar border to Mizoram’s east and south, entering Bangladesh in the west.

“Drug abuse is possibly the only malaise in Mizoram. Our enforcement officials are doing a good job of intercepting large consignments of meth and arresting couriers. But the battle against meth can be won only if the Centre controls the manufacture of pseudoephedrine,” said chief minister Lal Thanhawla.

Common causeFighting drug abuse is one of the priorities of the Congress party Lal Thanhawla  heads in Mizoram. Regional rivals, the Mizo National Front, Zoram Nationalist Party and the Mizoram People’s Congress (MPC) too, have sounded the bugle against the menace.

“We want New Delhi to ban the production of pseudoephedrine and replace it with other decongestants like phenylephrine, as is being done by other countries to deny illicit meth factories in Southeast Asia their supply of raw material,” said MPC president Lalhmangaiha Sailo.

Bnei Menashe Await Israel Nod

Report of cabinet approval creates buzz

By Linda Chhakchhuak

Aizawl, Oct 21 : Recognised as one of the Biblical Israel’s “Lost Tribes” by the chief Rabbinate of Israel and called Bnei Menashe, the members of the community are still waiting to be told the “good news” that their migration to Israel has been accepted by Tel Aviv.

Last week, an Israeli news website reported that the Knesset had approved the application for 899-odd members of this group to migrate to Israel as permanent citizens of that country under the terms of aliya (with citizens’ rights).

The application was made by Shavei Israel, an organisation with the aim of bringing all Jews “home to Israel” including the Lost Tribes who are “descendants of the tribe of Manasseh, one of the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel who were exiled by the Assyrian empire more than 2,700 years ago.”

Liana Meir Phaitual Hazan, who heads the Shavei Israel concern here, told this correspondent that till date they had not received anything officially by the head of his organisation in Israel. “We have only been told that there is such a plan by friends who read newspapers, but we have not been intimated yet,” he said.

He added that from past experience, aliya for Bnei Menashe is a long time-taking process as there are many formalities to be completed. “If they have made this decision at the Knesset just last week then we will come to know by and by as our leaders get things organised,” he said.

If all goes according to plan, about 200 Mizo Jews will be leaving for Israel by December this year, 400 in 2014 and another 300 in 2015.

According to Michael Freund, the head of the organisation, about 2,000 Bnei Menashe have done aliya since the eighties, the last major operation being in 2006.

Hundreds of Mizos who ascribe to this belief undertook the Giyur ritual in a specially-built Mikve at Zuangtui on the outskirts of the capital here formalising them into Jews giving them full citizens’ rights and support on landing in Israel.

However, the mass migration and conversion was stopped by protests from some Mizoram-based Christian lobbies and the BJP forcing the governments of Israel and India to halt further conversions in deference to these sentiments.

Last year, 270 Bnei Menashe were taken to Israel and with other small group migrations totalling about 380 migrants leaving for Israel shores in the past few years. Bnei Menashe’s Israeli roots are recognised by the Israeli government but they have to undergo ritualist conversion to become Jews, a ritual which they all undergo on reaching their “homeland”.

According to Shaveli Israel, about 2,000 Bnei Menashe are living in Israel now. As many as 9,000 remain in India and Myanmar. They want to take them all to Israel.