Govt’s PR points being washed away

Imlisanen Jamir

The optimism that followed the flurry of repairs conducted on major district roads of the state this summer is quickly fading. The much publicized activity by the new dispensation that now heads the Public Works Department seems to have been too little too late, as yet again the monsoon rains are wrecking havoc in the state, particularly the state capital.  

The highways leading to Kohima and several of the town’s periphery roads have been badly damaged by landslides this monsoon. Simply reaching the capital has become an arduous task, while there is chaos within the town.  

The now sunken and washed away ancillary roads are essential to contain the enormous traffic problems in the capital. With many of them now closed, problems have multiplied. Attempting to somehow manage the traffic flow, the Kohima Police has over the weeks issued a flurry of traffic directives. But despite their efforts, the traffic menace has worsened.  

When the new government came into power earlier this year, the PWD made admirable efforts to get some work done before the rains (And let’s not get bogged down by the 60 ‘working days’ promise—it was laughable to begin with). The department was however careful to highlight the rains as one of their major obstacles.  

Over the decades, reasons to do with the lack of proper drainage along the roads and the difficulty in obtaining private land has been so overused; so often that it is now seen by many as an excuse.  

The difficulty of continuing roadwork, especially bitumen related works during the rainy season is a reality. Of the several examples is the Kerala Chief Minister’s recent order directing that bitumen related works stop for the monsoon. The same order however made clear that other works had to be carried out before the onset of the monsoon to ensure that the rains do not cause further destruction of the roads.  

While the Nagaland state PWD tried to employ a similar plan, it hasn’t been successful.   Further, despite the progress made in the much hyped four lane road project, the inability of state to maintain the existing Dimapur-Kohima highway, regardless of which political dispensation is in power, for even a couple of months has become a sad joke. Cue here the archetypal bureaucratic jurisdictional gibberish among the PWD—National Highways and the Border Roads Organisation.  

Years of inept planning, coordination and drive has made sure that the state is unable to cope with the challenges to present day road networks. And what little PR points on road works that this government had earned before the monsoon is now being quickly washed away.  

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