For whom the municipals toll

Imkong Walling

Remember the campaign rhetoric in the lead up to the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) elections earlier in June, this year? It felt as if Nagaland’s long neglected urban townships and haphazard agglomerates would turn into cozy Singapores in 5 years time. 

Unfortunately, electoral rhetoric goes hush the day campaigning come to a close, resurfacing the next election, some 5 years later. In the meantime, the thought of recouping poll expenses become a constant companion for the winners, and crying foul over alleged fund scarcity at the same time. And that, in general, happens to be the election-development story in Nagaland, irrespective of the level of the elected body. 

Recovering money spent on vote-buying was perhaps the motive behind a recent toll collection revelation involving the East Dimapur Town Council. It happened even as a state government ban on toll collection by municipal bodies remained in effect. 
As per a news report, toll booths were found set up within the EDTC jurisdiction near the Dimapur bypass 4-lane highway. The toll booths were reportedly set up by the EDTC. It was however unclear who approved it. Coincidentally, the toll booths were shutdown soon after the report, while the news report, published on October 18, was also taken off air.

Interestingly, the alleged toll booths failed to get into the radar of the MLA and Advisor for Urban Development & Municipal Affairs, Zhaleo Rio. Two days prior, he was heard raising the contentious issue of toll collection by municipal bodies hinting at the government opting for a partial lifting of the prevailing toll collection ban. While the government contemplates, he asserted that the ban will remain in effect. 

His other focus that day was the Kohima Municipal Council; in particular, the Deputy Chairperson, who was in for some public rebuke for buying cars from a one-time grant from the state government. Newly elected ULB members were also schooled on the virtue of following established procedures and told to keep in check the excitement of holding a public office. It looked like a case of the pot calling the kettle black. 

The justification from the Deputy Chairperson was no less amusing. The newly purchased vehicles will reportedly be put to use to chauffeur VIPs during the Hornbill Festival scheduled in December. 

A bigger concern however is the proposal to do away with the ban on toll collection. While statutory taxation may well be justified, the issue is in the logic of having multiple municipal bodies in a relatively small area vis-à-vis the plains of Dimapur and Chümoukedima. Imagine a transporter requiring paying three different tolls, in a stretch of barely 12 km, to the Dimapur Municipal, EDTC and Chümoukedima Town Council in one trip. It will become four, if the transporter happens to enter the jurisdiction of the Niuland Town Council, and more, if the itinerary covers Medziphema, Kohima and so on. 

Municipal bodies, in concept, were designed to function as autonomous entities. “For bettering urban living,” as it is generally called. But when it comes to granting the licence to collect road toll to municipal bodies, which are contiguously located, and sharing a linear road, the government should avoid the one-size-fits-all approach.

The writer is a Principal Correspondent at The Morung Express. Comments can be sent to imkongwalls@gmail.com