Aizawl: The Centre has waived Rs 5.23 crore in depreciated costs payable by the Mizoram government for buildings and infrastructure vacated by the Assam Rifles in Aizawl, Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma said.
As per the Memorandum of Agreement signed between the Mizoram government and the Assam Rifles to relocate the paramilitary force’s bases from Aizawl, the former was required to pay Rs 5.23 crore as depreciated costs for the buildings and other infrastructure vacated by the Assam Rifles in the state capital, he said.
He said that he had sent a letter to Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai in May last year requesting a waiver of the amount.
“In response, the Union Minister sent me a DO letter informing me that the Mizoram government need not pay the depreciated cost. It is a matter of happiness that our request has been complied with,” Lalduhoma said in a Facebook post late on Monday.
In March last year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah attended a function in Aizawl marking the relocation of Assam Rifles bases from the heart of the city to a designated camp at Zokhawsang, about 15 km east of the state capital.
The phase-wise shifting began the following month.
Shah commended the initiative as a milestone for the development of Mizoram and a symbol of the Centre’s responsibility towards the Mizo people.
He said that the demand for relocating the paramilitary force’s bases from Aizawl to Zokhawsang had been raised for around 35 years due to the city’s topography and congested conditions.
“The demand, which has existed for around 35 years, is now set to be fulfilled due to the important decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is not just an administrative decision, but a testament to the Centre’s responsibility towards the Mizo people,” Shah had said at the function held at the Assam Rifles premises in Aizawl.
Previously, the Assam Rifles had bases at Zodin Square (Lammual) and Khatla areas in Aizawl.
Apart from these, the paramilitary force also had a DIG residence near Raj Bhavan in the Tuikhuahtlang neighbourhood, a commandant’s bungalow (Loch House) and a church in the Tuikual area near Zodin, plots of land at Babutlang near the Chief Minister’s bungalow and at Chitte in the eastern part of the state capital, as well as a war memorial and a temple at the Zodin area, among others.
The Assam Rifles has retained its 23 Sector Headquarters, Mizoram Range, in Khatla, along with the DIG residence.
The demand for relocating Assam Rifles bases from the heart of Aizawl to Zokhawsang was first raised by the erstwhile Mizo National Front (MNF) government headed by former Chief Minister Laldenga in 1988, following the killing of 11 civilians in a violent clash involving the paramilitary force.
