Imlisanen Jamir
Credit where it’s due! Despite the constant barrage of issues that have plagued the National Highway leading to Dimapur, it truly is encouraging to see present road works in the stretch being carried out with an unfamiliar gusto.
This isn’t to ignore the tremendous amount of time delay in the road works reaching even a semblance of completion.
For the entire year, this particular National Highway stretch has seen the worst condition in decades. With the monsoon wreaking its usual havoc earlier in the year, and slow pace of works compounded by the lack of alternative routes to the town, the road has been dismal and almost un-drivable.
Over the past month and a half, there has however been a visible improvement in the pace and volume of work done to make it into a four lane road. With land acquisition complete, the road widening works, along with the construction of massive culverts beneath the road in several key points are taking shape, slowly but surely.
There are safety concerns of course however. Those key points where the aforesaid culverts are being constructed have become chokepoints. And while traffic is being regulated during the day, night commutes have become increasingly perilous. There needs to be a round the clock monitoring of the under construction stretch, especially considering the passage of goods laden trucks along the road at night.
There are ancillary safety issues too—the old Nagarjan Bridge for instance. With the bridge declared open for one way traffic at a time, despite approach lanes showing visible damage, one can only hope that the administration is keeping a very close watch for any dangers.
While these safety issues are calling out for constant monitoring by the concerned authorities, this should be no reason to fall back to what road works in the state have been synonymous with—quick fix solutions.
With the approaching festive season, there is precedence of governments in the state resorting to the aforesaid adage, especially when it comes to the state’s main roads. One can only hope that this is not the case this time.
The public in turn have endured a lot over the years, and we might have to develop an even thicker skin for the road works to continue with the present zeal.
All stakeholders need to contribute to this—the authorities ensuring commuter safety; the public recognizing that durable, quality roadwork will require time for completion; and the government’s will to sacrifice quick PR points for long term development.
Comments can be sent to imlisanenjamir@gmail.com
