A Trip to Zokhawthar
- Part 2 -

Prof E. Bijoykumar Singh *

A view of Zokhawthar, Mizoram :: Pix - sawhchiar/Blogspot

Indian currency is acceptable in Myanmar but Myanmarese traders coming to India need to convert their kyat into rupees. Many of them go to Champhai on motor cycles. My guide had no problem in communicating with them in Mizo language. Around 10 persons were engaged in foreign currency market on the Indian side of the border. Sangneihi, the Mizo lady dealing in foreign currency had been in the business for 10 years. We bought some Myanmarese currency notes as a souvenir.

The condition of roads on the Myanmar side must be deplorable as was evident from the tell-tale conditions of vehicles parked on the Myanmarese side. The bodies of the jeeps were smeared with mud. The Rih-Kalemyo road via Tiddim Falam should be improved. The road from river Tiao to Falam-Tiddim-Kalemeo is of 350 km approximately.

Improvement of this road is necessary to enable our traders to transport our goods into Myanmar and also to enable Myanmarese traders to visit our markets at minimum cost in terms of money and convenience. This is also necessary to counter Chinese inroads into Myanmar. You cannot do it by merely wishing. The connectivity has to be improved.

Major items of illegal trade seized by customs at LCS Zokhawthar showed the commodities in demand both for export and import at the border. Fertilisers, scented tobacco leaves (zarda), khaini (tobacco) were seized while trying to export.

Readymade garments, foreign liquor, footwear, electronic items, toys, fast consumable goods were seized while trying to import. During 16 Aug to 23 August, 2010 the following illegal items were intercepted by officials of the LCS: Blanket, folding, plywood, plate, tobacco, jelly, milk wafer, polythene, cigarettes, apple, puanthan, lipu, rangua perek, sleeper and hmarcha. Hair, goatskin, intestine of animals, fertilisers, petrol were also demanded.

When fertiliser was allowed to be taken into Myanmar, truckloads of chemical fertilisers from Indian side were sent in daily and it had to be stopped eventually to protect the interest of actual users of chemical fertilisers. Ten truckloads comprising of 1500 quintals each used to be taken into Myanmar daily during Dec 2009 to Feb 2010. However due to high demand for fertilisers in Myanmarese villages around Mizoram unscrupulous traders may still be smuggling it.

The sties on the Myanmar side where pigs would be brought in wicker baskets indicated that pigs would be smuggled into Mizoram in the night. Pork is very popular in Mizoram. This could be done easily as the Tiao ran across forests where there was no border guard. Our own R.K. Shivachandra Singh said that exporting pigs to Nagaland would be able to make our national highway-2 less blockade prone.

The border trade in Mizoram has been carried on illegally on regular basis. The minimal paper work at the LCS may have its disadvantage in the form of ever falling border trade. It is difficult to get any information on trade as the trade is dominated by the trade of items not in the approved list. The truth is trade in such items has grown exponentially while the formal trade has been reduced to the minimal.

The vehicles plying on the Indo-Myanmar route issue proper tickets with proper seat numbers either it is for Aizawl to Zokhawthar or from Zokhawthar to Champhai. The guest house was run by the Deptt. of tourism, Mizoram. The service was highly professional and the housekeeper Mr Richard was a graduate in Hotel management. Mizoram is costly but it is systematic. Lengpui airport had prepaid taxi service. The habit of paying for goods and services and concern for maintaining peace at any cost will be valuable components of a conducive business environment. Accountability was visible everywhere.

On the return trip we took an autoricksaw to Champhai winery which was just starting to produce wine with low alcohol content using local grapes. We were told that blue variety grapes from Bangalore grew easily in Mizoram. The two wineries in and around Champhai could utilise only about 20% of the local grapes. Mizoram is a dry state yet it has no problem with funding such a project which will utilise local products. The wine was yet to be named and now it goes by the name Zolaidi. The Mizos also love wine. Zolaidi would be ultimately exported .

The wineries worked for three months a year and most of the skilled workers from West Bengal return home after the busy season was over.. There was a plan to process every horticultural product available in Mizoram. Again the manager turned out to be from Churachandpur who had migrated and settled down there. He lamented that though such grapes could grow well in Churachandpur, processing it as in Champhai was unthinkable. He enthusiastically showed us the activities inside the factory.

After spending about one hour in the winery we proceeded to Champhai where my classmate Y.Dinachandra Singh was waiting for us. He was an EE in Mizoram Electricity department and had been working there for nearly two decades. He showed me the market in Champhai dominated by Myanmarese traders. They would be crossing over to Mizoram in the morning to sell their ware.

The Champhai market looked like our Paona International market with most of the shops showing off their imported products. Champhai is the place where most of the imports from Zokhawthar would be taken to. In Aizawl also there were many shops specialising in imported goods such as ninety nine market and Hong kong market.

We had a quick lunch at Dina's house and left for Aizawl by a Tata Sumo. We stopped several times on the way as our driver had to help other vehicles on the way several times. The scenery was so beautiful that we did not notice the approaching evening. We began to see the lights of Aizawl. Our driver who was also from Churachandpur assured the passengers that he would be dropping them at their homes. We were dropped at Kulikon at 11-30 pm. James had got down earlier.

The best thing about this border was the peaceful environment and the willingness of the people to strive hard for peace and prosperity. It is on the basis of this intangible asset that Zokhawthar is challenging our Moreh to be the main LCS. The physical infrastructure bottlenecks can the more effectively handled if there is a conducive business environment.

Mizoram, once a dreaded place in the region, has metamorphosed into a role model for peace and the peace dividend is enormous. No one will bother you as you move across the state. However this state is protected by inner line permit system and whether trade would be consistent with it is a mute question.

Mizoram has learnt to live in peace. Why can't we learn to do so?

Concluded..