Minphong Konyak
Mon| Nov 27
Naginimora Town, named after the funeral site of the historical Konyak Princess, Watlong, who married an Ahom King during the Ahom era, is one of the most resourceful and industrialized areas in Nagaland. It is blessed with abundance of fertile arable land and forest resources etc. Unfortunately, over the decades, people over-exploited these forest resources and mercilessly felled almost all the trees. Now most of the area lies barren, almost devoid of plant and animal life but huge reserves of coal and stone left untouched yet.
The extraction of coal was introduced by the British during their reign. The historical Borjan coal field still exists today. British went even to the extent of setting up trolleys and locomotives to extract coal from there. Although there are only remnants of these heavy machineries left, the quest for coal has not died. After the logging business exhausted, people started coal extraction. Now the Borjan area and beyond are swarming with miners. Everyday tons and tons of coal are been extracted and sold off to Assom.
Besides, river Tikhu, the second largest in Nagaland, brings down thousands of tons of pebbles every year. In dry seasons these pebbles are effortlessly picked off and sent to hundreds of hungry stone crushers at Bihupur neighboring Naginimora. Coal and stone business bring in immense wealth and sustain a thousand families both in the area and Assom as well. But when one observes the roads and other developmental aspects of the town, it is a wonder where the money goes. For years the forest department and town council had been collecting revenue from these two businesses - only recently coal was taken up by the Nagaland mining department. For instance, as reported the forest department levies Rs. 20 per truck load of pebbles and Rs. 400 per Lp of coal while Naginimora Town Council charges Rs. 150 per Lp of coal and Rs. 10 per truckload of pebbles. The amount seems less but not less than five hundreds trucks goes out everyday. The annual income to Nagaland treasury must be definitely enormous.
But while business is at its peak making fortunes for a few, it is a wonder why basic amenities of the poorer many are not attended to. The only road out of about 3 Km that runs through the town from Assom border is in a mess. There are only remnants of a once pucca road which is now full of potholes. And during dry seasons, townsfolks are compelled to face unbearable storms of dust through out dry seasons going about doing their chores.
And there is a PHED that is non- functional but luckily people have managed to set up a community pipeline, which of course is not hygienically safe. Indeed, the distinction of ‘haves and have not’ is clearly marked in the society and while the haves are accumulating more and more wealth, the bigger ‘have-not’ section of the society is still struggling for their basic rights.
