CM assures to look into the matter; Regrets PIL in Court against mineral exploration
Kohima, October 27 (MExN): A delegation of Bhandari District Demand Committee (BDDC) and Lower Lotha Oil and Mineral Bearing Zone Association (LLOMBZA) today appealed to the State government for upgradation of Bhandari Sub-division under Wokha district to new Bhandari district.
The delegation, which called upon the Chief Minister TR Zeliang at his residential office, also urged him to “expedite the Amendment of NPNG Rules and Regulations 2012.” The delegation also submitted a memorandum for creation of Bhandari district headquarters citing problems of road accessibility, administrative convenience and backwardness of the areas, informed a press release from CMO Media Cell.
The Chief Minister assured the delegation to look into the matter after a report from verification team who would study on the feasibility for creation of new district, it said.
He also urged the delegation “to convince those sections of people” who have reservation about “agreement to exploration and exploitation of mineral resources which would otherwise benefit the people of the State,” it added. The release further informed that the Chief Minister told the delegation about “the productive negotiation traded between the Government of Nagaland and the Centre on the constitutional legality, modalities and share ratio between stakeholders, worked out for exploration of petroleum and natural gas in pockets of the State.”
“He, however, regretted that such endeavor has been put on halt due to PIL filed in the court of law by local people themselves,” it said.
The Chief Minister urged the delegation to discuss among themselves, and come out for amicable settlement out of the court, it added.
According to the CMO release, the proposed Bhandari district has a total area of 778.74 Sq.kms with 73 villages and lies 70 Kms away from Wokha district headquarters and borders with Assam in the West.
Though the Lothas are the main inhabitants of the Nagaland’s oldest sub-division, there are sizable presence of Sumi and Karbi populations, it said.
Richly endowed with natural and mineral resources, Bhandari is hardly accessible by vehicular road and people are often require to travel via Assam, it claimed adding that the government has declared it as ‘Economically and Developmentally Backward Area since 1983.”
