Slicing off 1,000 km, to bring Mizoram closer to the world

Mizoram is set to come closer to the rest of India and the world with a new road linking it to Myanmar, and onward to Kolkata. (Source: Express photo by Adam Halliday)

The benefit may extend to the rest of the Northeast as well, as NH 502A joins NH 54 to Assam. (Source: Express photo by Adam Halliday)

At Zochachhuah and nearby villages near the Indo-Myanmar border, borders have little meaning as locals move easily between the two countries on small country-crafts.(Source: Express photo by Adam Halliday)

With eight-odd bridges, NH 502A will be like no other road in Mizoram. (Source: Express photo by Adam Halliday)

Residents of Darnamtlang, which was earlier atop a hill not far from the road alignment, have moved down at road-level because "the road will bring progress", according to Village Council member Hawrichawndro. (Source: Express photo by Adam Halliday)

Construction workers building a 12-metre-wide, 90-km road from Lawngtlai in southern Mizoram to Zochachhuah village on the Indo-Mynanmar border, running parallel to the Kaladan river. (Source: Express photo by Adam Halliday)

NH 502A is part of the much larger, grander Kaladan Multi-Modal Transport Transit Project (KMMTTP). (Source: Express photo by Adam Halliday)

The tribes found here -- Chakma, Zakhai, Bru and Mizo -- are also found across the streams that serve as an international boundary. (Source: Express photo by Adam Halliday)

Curves. That’s what’s uppermost on Lalthanzuala Ralte’s mind. (Source: Express photo by Adam Halliday)

By the time the final touches, including laying the tarmac, on the road to be called NH 502A are over, it will be mid-2016, two years beyond schedule. (Source: Express photo by Adam Halliday)