Indian infrastructure engineering contractor Essar Projects has signed a contract with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to carry out sea and river port segments in the Burmese leg of the huge Kaladan transit project, which is designed to improve trade links between the nations, a spokesman said.
The “Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project” financed by India aims to boost links between ports on India’s eastern seaboard and Sittwe in Arakan (Rakhine) State, Burma. From there goods will be shipped along the Kaladan River from its confluence near Sittwe to Paletwa in Chin State and by road to India’s Mizoram State, which will provide an alternate route for transport of goods to India’s landlocked northeast, according to the ministry’s website.
It will have 333 miles (539 kilometres) of waterways and 140 miles of roads. India and Burma signed the overall deal in April last year.
Essar Group spokesperson Manish Kedia confirmed the contract signing with Mizzima. “The zero date for the project has already started and our team is already in Burma … [they have] started [bringing in] equipment and other things will take off as soon as possible,” Kedia said, adding “it is a 36-month project.”
The execution contract was signed with the Indian ministry last Friday. It included dredging and construction of cargo barges to aid shipping along the Kaladan River. The construction of the port at Sittwe was a major component of the contract, Essar said in a statement.
“The project is to construct a port at Sittwe and a jetty at Paletwa, it will help in developing infrastructure in Burma, which would be beneficial to the country itself, and will promote employment opportunities, Kedia said. “It will also help the Burmese government earn revenue.”
The contract is worth 3.42 billion Rupees (US$75 million) to Essar.
But certainly not all Burmese will benefit. Aung Marm Oo, director of the Arakan Rivers Network said in Chiang Mai, Thailand last November that the proposed project, especially the dredging, would devastate the livelihoods of people in Sittwe, Pongnakyun and Kyaukthaw townships in Arakan while in Chin State, people of Paletwa Township would also pay a heavy price.
“The first group to be affected is people who earn a living from fishing in the Kaladan River,” Aung Marm Oo said.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs failed to offer any appropriate responses after repeated contacts by Mizzima.
Essar said its responsibilities also included 120 kilometres of road to be built in Burma from the river terminal in Paletwa to the India-Burma border in the northeast, but that road construction would be under a separate contract.
The contract was signed by the ministry’s joint secretary, T. S. Tirumurti, on behalf of the Government of India and Essar ports and jetties vice-president Vishwesha Bhat.
The Kaladan River, which forms a border between India and Burma, is navigable from its confluence point with the Bay of Bengal near Sittwe up to Paletwa (Setpyitpyin). Beyond this it is not navigable owing to shallow water and frequent rapids, so road transport is planned for this stretch.
India’s Siliguri Corridor, a narrow stretch of land above Bangladesh that connects India’s northeastern states to the rest of India, is under severe pressure. Dehli also accuses Dhaka of inflexibility over transit rights through Bangladeshi territory.
