Appeals govt to allocate fund for Peren sector and link road for Rengmapani
Morung Express News
Dimapur | March 9
With the Nagaland state government reviving the Nagaland foothills road project, the Nagaland Foothills Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) has called for completing pending works in the Niuland to Mon stretch.
The NFHRCC convened a meeting on March 9 wherein it pointed out two segments where reportedly works sanctioned in 2021-22 remain incomplete. The two areas where work remain incomplete falls in the Mangkolemba and Tuli PWD Divisions in Mokokchung district.
The Committee Convenor, Supu Jamir, informed that the contractor in the Tuli Division has yet to start executing the work. “At the meeting today, the NFHRCC resolved to give the contractor a week's time to start executing the work,” he said, while stating the Committee will be writing to the contractor in this regard.
In Yajang C, falling under the Mangkolemba Division, he said that recurring landslides are posing a challenge. The targeted date of completing the said work was December 2023. The contractor, who was said to have also attended the meeting, of the work assured to complete it by the end of March, he said.
If not for the two incomplete works, the foothills road is said to be “jeepable” from Niuland to Tizit.
The meeting also highlighted an issue said to be posing a threat to the structural integrity of the Doyang Bridge in Liphanyan, Wokha district. During the construction of the Doyang Bridge, the river course was diverted. After the construction, allegedly no course correction measures were taken.
According to Jamir, the NFHRCC took note of the issue, which is now endangering the mid-pier of the bridge, and have asked the Executive Engineer, Dimapur Division, PWD (Roads & Bridges) to take up corrective measures.
At the 2024-25 Assembly Budget Session, the state government announced a Rs 148.5 cr package to develop the foothills road into an all-weather single lane from Niuland to Tizit in Mon.
While the NFHRCC appreciated the state government’s renewed investment in the long delayed Nagaland foothills road, rechristened the Trans Nagaland Expressway, it appealed the government to allocate additional fund for the Peren sector of the foothills road. It also appealed the government to seriously consider allocating fund for the construction of a road that will link up Rengmapani with the foothills road in the Niuland sector.
Land compensation and illegal taxation often crop up as major issues in the execution of public infrastructure works in Nagaland. In the case of the foothills road project, the NFHRCC said that there are no pending land compensation issues nor has it faced demands from the Naga Political Groups. While stating that the land owners have been cooperating from day one, the NFHRCC said that works began only after getting “No Objection Certificate” from the landowners.
It reminded that when the project was initiated ten years ago, it started with a resolve not to entertain any kind of extra-constitutional taxation, including “cuts” demanded by government officials and Ministers, other than the statutory deductions.
