Advisor Tongpang Ozukum at the Jal Shakti Summit in New Delhi on September 2.
Advisor Tongpang urges Centre on flood management, project approvals at Jal Shakti Summit
Dimapur, September 3 (MExN): Nagaland has not received a single project under the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP) in over a decade despite submitting four proposals, the state’s Advisor for Water Resources and MLA, Tongpang Ozukum, told the Jal Shakti Departmental Summit. The advisor urged the Ministry to sanction at least one project under the scheme this financial year.
Ozukum raised the issue among a host of concerns during the two-day summit hosted by the Ministry of Jal Shakti at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan, New Delhi on September 1-2, which Nagaland Water Resources Department Secretary Akunu S Meyase also attended.
The Advisor noted that Nagaland undertakes only Minor Irrigation Projects, and generally faces few issues related to land acquisition, contract management, project execution, design changes during implementation, or inter-state and inter-agency coordination. However, timely release of funds remains a challenge. Given that the working season in Nagaland is limited to just six months, from November to April, he stressed the importance of completing water infrastructure projects on schedule and ensuring that funds are released without delay.
On the nine-month Audit Certificate requirement, Ozukum sought relaxation to once every two years. He also asked that mother sanctions under the newly introduced SNA-SPARSH module, meant to enable real-time monitoring of fund release and expenditure, be capped at a maximum of two installments annually, and that Surface Minor Irrigation projects cleared once by the State Level Sanctioning Committee not require annual re-approval.
To address cost overruns from delayed project starts, he sought provision for price escalation to preserve project scope and quality, and proposed raising the per-hectare development cost for Minor Irrigation Projects from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6.5 lakh.
Ozukum also raised concerns over erosion along the Chathe River, Chümoukedima and Tuli town in Mokokchung and Naginimora in Mon district, seeking both “conventional and non-conventional anti-erosion methods.”
He highlighted the state’s Nagaland Strategic Water Resilience Initiative for 2026-27 aimed at improving water security, and said Farm Ponds, developed under the NABARD Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, are being used as micro water-harvesting structures to address seasonal water shortages caused by the state’s hilly terrain and high runoff, despite heavy monsoon rainfall.
