After years of delay, the construction of the permanent campus of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Mizoram is finally set to resume, as per a report by Hindustan Times.

The Mizoram government has deposited a penalty of Rs 1.4 crore with the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, clearing a major hurdle that had stalled the project since 2017.

The project was halted following a complaint filed by the Centre for Environment Protection before a special bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), citing unauthorised use of 63.44 hectares of land from the Tlawng Riverine Reserve Forest without mandatory clearance under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

NIT Mizoram, established in 2010, has been operating from a temporary campus in Aizawl. Its current facilities are spread across multiple locations, including academic and administrative blocks in Chaltlang, and hostels in Tanhril and Durtlang. The institute offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programmes in engineering and technology.In October 2021, the Mizoram government submitted a formal proposal for forest diversion clearance under Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act. The proposal was taken up by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) in June 2022 but was deferred pending further clarification.

Initially, the compensation amount was set at Rs 20 crore. However, following the intervention of Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma, the FAC revised the amount to Rs 1.4 crore, which has now been paid, paving the way for construction to resume.

The total sanctioned amount for the NIT Mizoram permanent campus stands at Ra 669.75 crore. The state government is tasked with providing the land free of cost and free from encumbrances.