Abraham Lotha
A small cranky wooden bridge in Merapani separates Assam from Nagaland. On the Assam side of the bridge, the roads are paved, there is electricity night and day, there are phone connections (even international calls), bus services to Golaghat and Dimapur run regularly, the market is bustling and the economy of the local people is on the upswing. On the Nagaland side of the bridge, there are no phones, electricity hardly exits and power lines are more like decorations. Small patches of paved road here and there remind you that one upon a time there was a good road there. A small stream that runs along threatens to eat up the remaining sections of the road. Local people mostly walk or use bicycle to commute to the market; those going up to Bhandari town use cycle-rickshaws to commute to the foothills and then walk the rest of the journey. There are hardly buses or other vehicles that ply on this road that is supposed to be a State highway.
And if you thought that was bad, the journey further into the rest of Wokha district from there is even worse. There is actually no road, only a riverbed. The wheels of vehicles bounce from stone to stone, and with every bounce on the stones, the joints and bones in your body shift and crack. At the end of the journey you need weeks to recover that is, if you are lucky to reach your destination without the vehicle breaking down.
The drive along the Wokha-Merapani road is a drive through hell. In the middle of June, I hired a Tata Sumo to go down from Kohima to Lakhuti. The journey till Wokha was smooth and uneventful. As soon as we crossed Wokha village and headed towards Doyang, the Sumo began dancing to the rhythm of the jeep jolting from one rock to another and we were tossed about helplessly. Patches of paved road were a novelty and reminded me of years back in the late 1970s and up to mid 1980s when the road was paved.
Just before reaching Yikhum, the two main spring levers at the back broke. Before we could reach Doyang, the steering rod was pushing out the front left wheel that was going at a 45 degree angle. We had to stay the night in Doyang and proceed only after repairing the vehicle with new spring levers bought from Wokha. Fortunately, at every place the Sumo broke down, we met wonderful people from the area to help us fix the problems. But not everyone will share such luck while driving through this hellish road.
What the Lotha students are demanding is right: a construction of the Wokha-Merapani road. It is not a re-construction because the old road is no more. In its place is a riverbed all along. During the months of July and August most sections of the road can be used as rice fields; other sections can be used as fisheries. The road has not been repaired for the past twenty years. Monies have been sanctioned but hardly any work has been done on it. Now a new road needs to be constructed because the old road is beyond repair.
Look at the other demand of the Lotha Students: electricity connections and power supply in the district. Most villages in the Lotha lower range do not have even one electric post. The few villages that have connection hardly get any power supply and if occasionally they do, it is in the middle of the night when people are all fast asleep. Villages in the Lotha middle range can hardly see a red filament burning when there is power supply. This is a disgrace that cannot be excused.
Power supply in Wokha district is worst than any other district in the State. Electricity is regularly irregular. Other villages in the far-flung interior areas of the State receive much better power supply than Wokha and Bhandari towns. In spite of the Doyang hydro project being in Wokha district, power supply in the district has not improved at all even after the commissioning of the hydro project. People resort to buying kerosene and candles and still pay the electricity bills even though there is hardly any power supply.
Wokha District has digressed down to the rock bottom. It is a disgrace to the whole State. The statement of the Lotha Students Union regarding the State government’s attitude as ‘nonchalant and dithery’ is an understatement. The truth is, the government does not care.
The agitation called for by the Lotha Students Union should be supported. But bandhs like the one on August 23rd will only worsen the economy of the people. The road condition has deteriorated beyond repairs, so much so that people from the villages walk to Wokha and Merapani. So it will be a joke to block the few vehicles that ply on the Wokha-Merapani road. The bandh will only inflict more misery on the people who are already suffering. Instead the Lotha Students Union should come up with other innovative ways to make their voices heard.
Every Naga should support the initiatives of the Lotha Students Union for a good cause like the twin demand for the construction of the Wokha-Merapani road and power supply to the villages in Wokha district. The Lotha Students should rally the support of the NSF and hold the bandh statewide. The bandh should be observed particularly on National Highways 39 and 61.
And why should it be the responsibility only of the students? The Lotha Hoho should likewise, get the support of the Naga Hoho and hold bandhs and agitations in Kohima so that the Government will be forced to take some action. After all, the Wokha-Merapani road is not only for the Lothas. It is not only for people in Wokha District; it belongs to the State and to every Naga.
Why should other tribes just stand and stare and laugh when they should support the Lothas to fight for good roads? It is the duty of all the Nagas, not only the Lothas, to fight for their basic human necessities like water supply, roads and electricity.
I also suggest the students to do the following:
1. Treat the problem of “muti-malikitis” (land owners obstructing any development unless they are given some contracts) that is like an ulcer in Wokha district. Many developmental works are stalled because of demands by landowners to get contracts for work.
2. Propose that the Wokha-Merapani road be given over to the Border Roads and not to be maintained by NEC or PWD.
3. Challenge the State Government to find alternatives for the temporary PWD labourers/employees on that stretch of the road so that their livelihood will no longer be used as an excuse.
4. Demand that the road from Wokha to Golaghat be taken up by the Central Government as an extension of National Highway 61.
5. Demand for the speedy construction of the road along the foothills in Wokha district all the way to Dimapur.
6. Hold back from paying electricity bills whenever there is no power supply.
7. Prevent NEPCO from supplying power from the Doyang Hydro project to areas outside Wokha district unless and until all the villages in Wokha District have been electrified and sufficient power supply given.
If the demands are not met soon, the Lotha Students Union along with Lotha Hoho, Eloe Hoho, Elders Forum, Wokha Town Council and GB Union Wokha should continue to think of other strategies to launch a sustained agitation. Should one strategy be the withdrawal of support to the Peace Process and Naga integration?
After all, how can one speak of integration when the basic communication system between two neighboring villages in Lotha area is so abysmal? Till your twin demands are met, keep going with the agitation, Lotha students.
(The writer is a Freelance journalist, Ph.D. student in Cultural Anthropology in New York City)
