Aizawl: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that a cross-border road under the ambitious Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) to link south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district and Myanmar’s Sittwe port will be completed by November this year.
Addressing a rally at West Phaileng within Dampa assembly constituency in west Mizoram’s Mamit district bordering Bangladesh, Gadkari said the 26km road project costs Rs. 1,132 crore.
“The road under Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project will be completed by November and it will be helpful to connect Myanmar’s Sittwe port,” he said.
Laying emphasis on infrastructural development, the Union Minister said that infrastructures and communication have to be developed to bring all-round development.
“If the infrastructure is good we get investment in industry and agriculture, by which we can create jobs. And by creating jobs we can eradicate poverty, which is the basic principle behind development,” he said.
During the rally, Gadkari also said that a Rs. 20,000 crore road project, which will link nine districts of Mizoram along the international border, is being undertaken.
The 750 km road project will also link Nagaland, Manipur in the country and Myanmar in the international boundary, he said.
Gadkari said that when he took charge as Minister in 2014, the National Highway length was 986 kilometres and now in 2023 the NH length has increased to 1,478 kilometres.
He also said that 355 km of road construction costing Rs. 8,000 crore has been completed in Mizoram after he became a minister for MoRTH.
Gadkari said that a 373 km road project between Aizawl and Tuipang in the southern part of the state will be completed by June next year.
The Rs. 7,361 crore project to connect six districts of Mizoram, including Aizawl and Serchhip, will also link Myanmar and will create economic development and trade and employment opportunities, he said.
The Union Minister said that the Centre will construct Aizawl by-pass road at the cost of Rs. 2,500 crore to solve traffic snarl in the state capital.
The project, which includes a road length of 35 km and 2.5 km tunnel, is scheduled to be completed by December 2025, he said.
He said that the construction of four-lane Silchar to Vairengte – Sairang road (NH-306) amounting to Rs. 3,500 crore, which was in 2022, got delayed as the state government failed to provide land due to problems between state revenue department and forest department.
Citing that the BJP did not believe in discrimination on the basis of caste, creed and sex, Gadkari said that the NDA government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to development of all citizens of the country irrespective of caste, creed and sex.
He further said that the NDA government under the leadership of PM Modi and BJP chief JP Nadda will transform Mizoram into one of developed states in the country if the party is voted to power or becomes part of the next government in the state.