State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel rescue elderly residents from flood-affected United Colony in Dimapur on July 8. Domesticated animals were also safely evacuated. (DIPR Photo)
Not only weather, human greed & missing civic sense also to blame: MLA Moatoshi Longkumer
Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 8
In the words of the MLA representing the 2 Dimapur II Assembly seat, encroachers coming in the way of sewers deserve being handed a firm deal. Moatoshi Longkumer, MLA and Advisor for Labour & Employment, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, and Excise made the statement while visiting flood-affected areas in the Dimapur municipal area on July 8.
The legislator was accompanied by the Dimapur Deputy Commissioner (DC), Dr Tinojongshi Chang, who is the chairperson of the District Disaster Management Authority, along with the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Dimapur Municipal Council.
After a day’s lull, Dimapur, and adjoining areas, was battered by another bout of heavy rain in the intervening night of July 7 and 8, inundating large swathes of low-lying areas, and residences built right on the banks of small streams that gush during the monsoon.
Parts of Lengrijan, Island colony, Notun Bosti, IV-LRC, Hospital colony, Vilhume, Police colony, Nagarjan (Government Higher Secondary School area) and Burma Camp were the worst affected. Official figure on the total number of households affected was not available, however.
Besides weather and the monsoon, he held that the cause of the annual flooding in Dimapur is rooted in human greed and a collective lack of civic sense. Longkumer, who also chairs the District Planning and Development Board (DPDB), said, “Those people, those owners, who are encroaching into the drainage (course), I think we should give them a firm deal.”
According to him, the imagined “firm deal” requires unflinching public support, setting aside any personal or familial connections to the individuals involved. Righting the drainage issue should be the citizenry’s highest priority, preceding all other development projects, he added.
He termed enforcement of the right of way principle and adopting the established building codes and regulations as essential. As is standard practice in other cities, he said that property owners must be required to obtain clearance from the municipal authorities before beginning any construction.
He was asked whether the drainage trouble or the deficient infrastructure in general, points back to the culture of putting a price tag on the ballot during elections. He replied, “No, not necessarily. Of course, electoral candidates face that problem during elections, but I don’t blame this issue on that. Civic sense is not just about whether you demand money; it's about how you treat your environment.”
As an MLA, he claimed that his powers and resources are limited. However, as the Chairperson of the District Planning Board, and with the support of the Deputy Commissioner, he said that they will lead an effort to persuade the public to adhere to regulations.
He recalled forming a task force in Dimapur, under the charge of the DC, to clear the blocked drainages. He informed that the task force identified eight individuals, who had encroached on the drainage system, and the administration took the initiative to demolish some illegal structures.
However, he claimed that the entire initiative stalled when a few of the identified alleged encroachers moved court. Despite the setback, he said that efforts are on to revive the initiative. “We will initiate it. It is going to hurt somebody, but it can't be helped, even the ones with political backing. Whoever (they) may be,” he said.
