Sunday, February 1, 2015

Mizoram move for paper mill

Aizawl, Feb 2 : Mizoram chief minister Lal Thanhawla said his government would initiate measures to find out if the state was ready to have its first paper mill.

The chief minister said this while speaking to a delegation of the Central Young Men's Association, which had called on him yesterday in Aizawl to reiterate their demand for a paper mill in the state.

The delegates said the state reaps a rich yield of bamboos and hence is in a position to demand a paper plant.

A senior official in Aizawl said the government should immediately order a techno-economic feasibility study and scout for a proper site, which should preferably be close to a proposed railhead in Sairang, 15km from Aizawl. Bairabhi rail station in northeast Mizoram is already linked with this town, the headquarters of Cachar district, by a metre-gauge rail. A project is under way to build a 51km broad-gauge rail track up to Sairang. The proposed scheme is slated to be wrapped up in 2019.