Rain harvesting in Mizoram

Laishram Shamungou

Imphal, Nov 27 : To solve the problem of water scarcity faced by the people settled atop the mountains, Mizoram Government has been extending its help in constructing water tanks at different places to harvest rain water.

The water, thus, collected is enough to meet the requirement of the people round the year.

With the success of this innovative and convenient approach of rain harvesting, Mizoram Government is planning to construct more such water tanks in other uncovered areas at an estimated project cost of Rs 5 crores from next year.

Although Mizoram receives an annual rainfall of 250 centimetre, people living on the hill tops normally suffer from water scarcity as the rain water runs off quickly down the steep mountain slope.

Harvesting rain water to beat the water scarcity in Mizoram

A media team from Manipur which had recently conducted a tour of Mizoram got a first hand experience of how the Mizos settling on top of the mountain harvest rain water to overcome the problem of water scarcity.

The Government has also chipped in with assistance to help in construction of water tanks at many places for harvesting the rain water for the people as its water supply scheme has limited coverage on account of the topographical feature of the State.

Around 341 villages have been so far brought under the water supply scheme of the Mizoram Govt and over 305 villages, mostly in rural areas, are yet to get the full benefit of the Rural Water Supply Scheme being taken up by the Govt.

In addition to this, there are 130 other villages which these schemes have not been able to cover.

In such a situation, Mizoram Govt initiated the project of rain water harvesting since 1986 to solve the problem of water scarcity in these villages.

Today, rain water harvesting tanks are conspicuously present in almost every part of Mizoram.

These tanks have been constructed close to residential areas.

According to an official of Mizoram Govt, Till date, 24,185 rain water harvesting tanks have been constructed with the assistance of Mizoram Government while another 1242 private tanks by individual families.

From next year, Mizoram Govt is planning to construction more tanks at a total estimated cost of Rs 5 crores for harvesting rain water, the official disclosed.

An official of the Public Works Dept, Govt of Mizoram explained that permission for construction of new Govt office buildings is not granted if there is no arrangement for storing the harvested rain water.

READ MORE - Rain harvesting in Mizoram

CIJWS trains troops to fight guerillas like guerillas

By Ibochouba Maibam

IMPHAL, Nov 24 : The Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS), in Vairangte, Mizoram, gives not only jungle warfare and counter insurgency training, but also normal education at its Information and Research Centre instituted under the name of the founder of the school Brig Mathew Thomas inside the school campus.

The Centre imparts to students knowledge of current events and developments in science and technology through newspapers and TV.

It also educates them of the different communities and religions of the Northeast region, besides of course the ways of militants organisations of the Northeast and their history.

The CIJWS, it may be recalled has the reputation of being one of world’s most prestigious special warfare training institutions, with troops from several countries participating in its programmes.

Vairengte is a town in the Kolasib district of Mizoram about 130 km from Aizawl.

The CIJWS was established in 1970 and the motto is “fight a guerrilla like a guerrilla”.

A demo was witnessed by a Manipur media team which toured Mizoram under the banner of the All Manipur Working Journalist Union, AMWJU, and sponsored by the Manipur government.

Maj Gen AK Raj Senha and other officials briefing the visiting journalists sketched a history of the CIJWS.

So far about 26 countries including the United States, Singapore, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afganistan, Tajiskistan, Brazil, Srilanka, Niger, etc had trained and the number of trained officer are about 6391, JCOs 10092, and OR 1454557.

A spokesperson nd said students are imparted special skills in countering insurgency.

More interestingly, selected officers, JCOs and NCOs, no matter where their posting, as well as men of the CRPF, BSF and Assam Rifles, besides “students” from foreign countries, are enrolled for an extensive course in basic as well as NE-specific CI operations.

The success of this school prompted another counter insurgency training centre, the Kaziranga special jungle warfare training school in North Eastern India, added the spokesperson.

Demonstration of how the students were provide training were also shown.

The original plans to setup a counter insurgency unit to train soldiers came up following fighting with Mizo militants in the 1960s, he said.

General Sam Manekshaw mooted the idea for such training and it took shape in 1967, he further said.

The crisis in neighboring Bangladesh however prompted a temporary rethink as the academy trained the Mukti Bahini guerrillas to attack Pakistan Army strongholds.

Operation Jackpot was one such naval operation undertaken by the rebels largely aided and planned by Indians that drove home the strength of this school.

After the Indo Pakistan War 1971, it returned to its primary focus of counter insurgency, it said.

READ MORE - CIJWS trains troops to fight guerillas like guerillas

Mizoram Tour : A State Where Prohibition Actually Works Wineries debut in dry Mizoram

Laishram Shamungou

Champhai, November 22 2010: Although prohibition is being imposed in letter and spirit in Mizoram, the ruling Congress Government has brought about some amendments in its Prohibition Act to allow manufacturing of wine from grapes along with setting up two wineries for the benefit of the farmers.

Interacting with a group of journalists from Manipur during a recent tour, Agriculture Minister of Mizoram H Liensailova explained that the two wineries have been set up after making necessary amendments in the Prohibition Act for the benefits of the farmers who are growing grapes in the State.

Machineries installed at a winery and the bottled wine ready for shipment

The wine to be produced from these two wineries set up by a society of the farmers is not for export but for local consumption, the Minister added.

According to an official source, cultivation of Bangalore Blue, a variety of grape, in Mizoram was reportedly started in Champhai district headquarters and Hnahlan by around 2000 farmers in 2007 .

Although this grape variety is very suitable to the soil of Mizoram, as it cannot be used as table fruit for long, the idea of setting up wineries came about.

Locally known as Zawlaidi, the wine produced from the two wineries was formally commissioned for selling in local market in October this year with positive response from the public.

In connection with manufacturing of the wine that has alcohol content of 14 percent, the manager of the winery at Champhai told the touring journalists that the farmers' society set up the wineries with loan from Mizoram Rural Bank.

The manager further informed that around 200 to 300 cases of Zawlaidi is being produced from his winery and the required grapes are being purchased from the farmers at the rate of Rs 35 per kg.

On marketing of the wine, the manager informed that it is being done by the Government through the Excise Department.

Thirteen vendors have been opened under the Department from where the public can buy Zawlaidi bottles, the manager said, adding that it is the public and more particularly the farmers who are reaping the benefit from setting up of the wineries.

The winery at Champhai has 14 fermentation tanks.

With positive response from the public, the winery is planning to increase its production capacity in near future.

The taxes collected from by the Excise Department from selling the wine is accrued to the Government.

READ MORE - Mizoram Tour : A State Where Prohibition Actually Works Wineries debut in dry Mizoram

Mizoram tribals protest repatriation

Agartala, Nov 20 (IANS) The Tripura government is going ahead with its programme to relocate Reang tribals, who settled in the state after ethnic clashes in Mizoram, an official said Saturday, but the tribals continued to protest the move.

Over 41,600 Reang tribals, locally called Bru, have been living in six camps in north Tripura’s Kanchanpur sub-division since October 1997. They fled western Mizoram after ethnic clashes with the majority Mizos over the killing of a Mizo forest official.

Reang tribals are anxious about situation back home, and had earlier demanded an eight-point rehabilitation package, including formation of autonomous district council in Mizoram, and reservation in government jobs and state assembly.

“Out of 41,600 tribal refugees, 400 refugees returned to their homes since Nov 3,” a Tripura government official told reporters at Kanchanpur, some 185 km north of Agartala.

“When 66 families were ready to go back home late Friday, hundreds of other refugees put up a blockade on the Tripura-Mizoram highway, protesting non-settlement of their eight-point demands,” he said.

“Police arrested 655 protesters and cleared the blockade. Subsequently, 48 refugee families left Tripura for their homes,” he added.

The refugees had organised a rally last month to protest the Mizoram government’s inaction. They had also sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding early solution of the ethnic imbroglio.

During his visit to Aizawl in May, Home Minister P. Chidambaram had asked the Mizoram government and the tribal leaders to sort out the matter.

According to Mizoram government officials, the state government would provide Rs.80,000 to each repatriated family for house construction and farming assistance, free rations for a year, financial assistance for their ‘jhum’ (slash and burn) cultivation, and adequate security.

READ MORE - Mizoram tribals protest repatriation

Mizoram poised for border trade boom

Aizawl, Nov 20 : Despite being the natural route of Indo-Myanmar border trade activities, Manipur has been struggling to reap the benefit due to several factors like poor communication facilities and unstable law and order condition.

But it has been smooth sailing for an off-location State like Mizoram with the possibility of surpassing Manipur in the near future.

However, activities like construction of Integrated Check Post at Moreh in Manipur under Land Port Authority of India as part of the efforts being made by the Government of India for development of border trade is not seen in Mizoram.

A team of 13 journalists from Manipur who recently conducted a tour of Mizoram experienced first-hand of what a striving border trade activities should be like.

Along with developing Zokhawthar, which is located some 200 kms from the capital Aizawl, in the bordering Champhai district, as a border trade centre, the Mizoram Government has been leaving no stone unturned for development of border trade with Myanmar.

Unlike in Manipur, in Mizoram there is also no dispute among the villagers settling on either side of the International border.

To facilitate border trade activities, Mizoram Government has constructed building for housing Land Customs Office, Police Check Gate, Bank branch of SBI, etc, all under one roof and development of other required infrastructures is underway.

Interacting with the visiting journalists from Manipur, Deputy Commissioner of Champhai district Vijay Kumar Bidhuri explained that the ongoing border trade activities between Mizoram and Myanmar is of recent development and it is being carried out on barter system with not much of trade volume.

Although the touring journalists did not come across any large market for carrying out border trade in Zokhawthar, at the bordering Khawmang of Myanmar, a row of wine shops doing roaring business could be seen.

Talking to the visiting journalists in his office chamber, Chief Secretary of Mizoram Van Hela Pachou disclosed that development of border road in Mizoram to connect Tedim of Myanmar for development of the border trade activities is on card under the Look East Policy of the Government of India.

Another stark contrast between Manipur and Mizoram is that the condition of the road from capital Aizawl to Champhai is very good and there is no security check post all along this road, another sign of peace prevailing in Mizoram.

It is learnt that at the instruction of Ministry of External Affairs, the Government has sanctioned a Rs 610 crores Multi-Model Transport Project over the Koodyene river of Mizoram that would cover a distance of 750 kms to connect Sittwet Seaport in Myanmar.

Targeted to be completed by 2014, the said Project will also connect Mizoram with Kolkata through sea route.

The project is expected to open a new chapter in trade activities of Mizoram not only with Myanmar but also with other metropolitan cities of India.

READ MORE - Mizoram poised for border trade boom

With new land use policy, Mizoram marches ahead in development

Imphal, Nov 19 : New Land Use Policy (NLUP) and policies to develop both land and water routes for trade and commerce are some of the efforts Mizoram government is taking up to push the state to an advanced state.

A team of state journalists of the All Manipur Working Journalists' Union (AMWJU) visited various developmental projects being taken up in Mizoram under the sponsorship of the state planning department during their stay from November 10 and 16 in the state.

In a briefing to the visiting state journalists at the conference hall of the Mizoram Information and Public Relation vice chairman PL Thanga gave a brief account of the New Land Use Policy of the state.

He informed that Mizoram which was once an insurgency infested state is peaceful and fast moving forward in development.

The Congress government in the state is working hard for accelerating for an all round development passage in the state in the last 20 years.

It has drafted the NLUP to help farmers move away from the traditional slash-and-burn method of cultivation to more sustainable land-based means of livelihood.

He said that the '2,527-crore NLUP has been taken up for sustainable land-based economic activities and to remove the age-old 'jhum' cultivation in the state.

In the first five years, the NLUP aims to support 120,000 families.

He said the departments of agriculture, horticulture, veterinary, industries, forest, fisheries, sericulture and soil and water conservation would be involved in the scheme.

Amongst others the core objectives of the new policy includes to aim at keeping 60% of Mizoram total land area as rain forest, to wean away farmers from destructive jhum practices and assist the workforce hitherto engaged in jhuming to be employed in sustainable economic ventures to create productive assets in each family, to improve income for both urban and rural poor through sustainable farming, non farming, micro enterprises including promotion and modernization of small scale and cottage industries, livelihood activities.

It will also focus on land reclamation and promotion of Agri-horticultural and plantation crops, animal husbandry, fishery and micro enterprises for income and employment generation.

NLUP programme will give a focused attention to preserve and regenerate natural resources particularly forests and bio diversity.

It is projected to benefit about 1,20,000 families in 5 years for various livelihood activities in the 1st year 2009-2010, and about 19640 families to be covered on a pilot basis.

About 80 percent of farmers in Mizoram are still dependent on jhum cultivation that involves clearing of forests and burning trees, weeds and bamboos and the NLUP seeks to restore a ecological balance by providing the farmers sustainable and permanent land-based means of livelihood, he asserted.

The NLUP also aims to create 21,480 hectares of bamboo plantation to benefit 10,740 families.

The NLUP intends to keep 60 percent of the state's total geographical area under forest cover and the remaining 40 percent for land-based development, Thanga said.

Making a power point presentation on the power situation in the state, Thanga said that a new Hydro Electric Power Policy Mizoram 2010 have already started.

The state has 98 percent power potential yet to be tapped.

A 12 Megawatt Serlui 'B' Hydel Project is near completion.

It is targeted to be commissioned by December this year.

The total power requirement Mizoram in a year is 107 MW while the availability is only 63 MW.

Mizoram government has a plan to develop NH-150 from Nokpa to Thanlon-Singhat of Manipur into a double-lane highway.

The project will cost ' 67.69 and is targeted to completed by 2013, he said.

READ MORE - With new land use policy, Mizoram marches ahead in development

First Councillors of AMC sworn in

Aizawl, Nov 18 : The first Councillors of the Aizawl Municipal Council (AMC) were sworn in today in a ceremony held at the AMC session hall here.

The newly-elected councillors were sworn in in order of the number of wards. Lalrinenga Sailo, elected from Ward-1 on Mizo National Front ticket, was sworn in first.

After Aizawl District Magistrate C Thanchhuma administered the oath of office to all the 19 Councillors, there was election to the posts of Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

CT Zakhuma, elected from Ward-15 on Congress ticket, became the first Chairman of the Aizawl Municipal Council.

Zarzoliana, of ruling Congress' ally Zoram Nationalist Party, was elected uncontested as the Vice-Chairman. He represents Ward-7.

As per the chairman's recommendations, three Councillors, including two women, were appointed executive council members. The sworn-in ceremony was chaired by AMC Chief Executive Officer R Sangliankhuma and attended by ministers, MLAs, MPs and government officials.

The ruling Congress party and its ally Zoram Nationalist Party won ten of the 19 seats, leaving nine seats to the Opposition Mizo National Front-Mizoram People's Conference combine in the elections held on November 3.

READ MORE - First Councillors of AMC sworn in