New Delhi: Fifteen years after it was approved, the waterway component of the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport project (KMTTP) is set to become operational next month, with the first commercial cargo movement starting from Kolkata to Sittwe port in Myanmar, senior government officials told ThePrint.
The deep-water port at Sittwe is part of the Rs 3,200 crore Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP). Piloted by the Ministry of External Affairs and first approved in 2008, the project is aimed at boosting trade and commerce between India and Myanmar and easing access to other South Asian countries. Once ready, it will also provide a strategic alternate link connecting the landlocked northeastern states to the rest of India and easing the pressure on the existing narrow Siliguri corridor.
Developed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) — an autonomous organisation under the Union shipping ministry — the construction of the Sittwe port was completed way back in 2018. But it could not be operationalised because of several obstacles, including delays in getting approvals and licenses because of the political turmoil in Myanmar and intense conflict in the Chin and Rakhine state, a senior IWAI official who didn’t want to be named told ThePrint.
“Permission from Myanmar to operationalise the port came in January this year. All clearances are in place now and we expect the first commercial cargo, carrying cement, to start from Kolkata to Sittwe port in the second week of May,” the IWAI official said.
One shipload of rice has already travelled from Sittwe port to Bangladesh last month. “It was kind of a trial run,” the official said, adding that the deep water port will be used mostly for transporting bulk cargo such as cement, pulses and food grains, among other things.
KMTTP connects Kolkata to Sittwe port, which is further linked to Paletwa in Myanmar through a waterway route along the river Kaladan. Both the port at Sittwe and the inland water terminal at Paletwa, developed by IWAI, have been completed.
From Paletwa, a 110 km road is being built to connect to Zorinpui at Mizoram on the Indo-Myanmar border. Ircon Infrastructure and Services Limited, a subsidiary of Ircon International — an engineering and construction corporation under the Ministry of Railways — is the project consultant for the road work. Zorinpui is further connected to Lawngtlai through a 100 km road. From Lawngtlai, an existing highway connects it to Aizawl, which in turn is linked to other northeastern cities including Guwahati.
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‘Real gains only after road link is completed’
Sittwe, which was one of the busiest rice-exporting ports in the late 19th century, is located at the mouth of the Kaladan in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
While the Sittwe deep-water port can handle vessels with a maximum capacity of 20,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage), the old port could handle smaller vessels of up to 2,000 DWT. Once cargo movement picks up through Sittwe, it can become a gateway for trade not only between India and Myanmar but to other countries in South Asia and East Asia.
While the Sittwe port and Paletwa terminal are ready, the latter will become operational only after the maintenance dredging is done on the Kaladan river between Sittwe and Paletwa, officials said. Till then, vessels will carry cargo up to Sittwe port.
Experts, however, said the real gains of the project will be realised only after it is completed in its entirety. This will include the 110-km road link between Paletwa and Zorinpui, one of the most crucial components of KMTTP linking Myanmar to Northeast India.
Gautam Mukhopadhaya, former Indian ambassador to Myanmar told ThePrint that the Kaladan project has strategic and developmental significance as an alternative access to the Northeast and for connectivity to inaccessible areas of Mizoram and Chin state.
“But its commercial viability needs to be thought through and consciously developed. The internal conflict involving the ethnic resistance organisations and People’s Defence Force on the one hand and the military regime on the other will be a major challenge,” he said.
Senior government officials, who didn’t want to be named, said that is going to take time. Though the official deadline to finish KMTTP is another 18-20 months, much of it will depend on the stability in Myanmar.
“The 110 km road passes through some of the worst conflict areas in Chin and Rakhine state, where the Arakan Army (an ethnic militia in the Rakhine state) is active. Security will always be an issue there. In the past work has been held up because of law and order issues,” said an Ircon official who didn’t want to be named.
The KMTTP project, including the road link, has missed several deadlines in the past.
The project has suffered several setbacks, including the abduction of two engineers in 2019 by the Arakan Army. Early last year, India terminated the contract with Engineers Projects India Limited and C&C Construction Limited, who were building the road. Ircon was then given the go ahead to hire local contractors to complete the road project.
“We, however, hope that if political stability prevails in Myanmar, the KMTTP will get completed within the next two years,” the Ircon official quoted earlier said.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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