Along Longkumer
Consulting Editor
In a significant policy decision, the State government has decided that 50% of all revenues from Oil & Natural Gas will be set aside for developing the ‘Iconic Four Lane Foothills Road’ in Nagaland. It was also informed that the Iconic Four Lane Foothills Road, which will connect Khelma in Peren District with Tizit in Mon District, will be taken up during the current year itself. All this comes in the backdrop of strong public demand, especially from the Ao community, for the construction of the abandoned Foothill Road from Dimapur to Tizit and thereby connecting districts like Wokha, Mokokchung, Longleng and Mon with the rest of Nagaland. The State government on its part had also put up a proposal with the Planning Commission of India for construction of what it described as the ‘Iconic Four Lane Foothills Road’. With the groundswell of public support cutting across tribes and districts, the State government has put this project on the fast track, especially the section from Dimapur to Tizit. It is now upto the government and people to work together and make this road a reality. The challenge therefore lies in how this road will be build in the days to come.
All of are aware about the poor quality of most of our roads. The abnormally high cost involved in building of our roads—land compensation, paying taxes to the innumerable armed groups, office commissions, this has an adverse effect on workmanship and quality is compromised. Can the political class, armed groups, bureaucrats, contractors, land owners etc rise above their vested interest and contribute towards building a people’s road that will serve our present and future needs. For instance, the leaders of the Lotha Lower Range Public Organization (LLRPO) Bhandari have expressed the opinion that all the border districts and villages should extend support in this road construction without disturbances from the land owners. It has gone on to suggest that for survey and road construction in their respective districts and villages, all tribal hohos and village councils should be entrusted for supervision of the works in a time bound manner.
This is a good opportunity for the government to involve the people in the development process and to ensure accountability; transparency and time bound completion of such a vital project. The State government should come out with innovative ways to implement this road project. For instance, the apex tribal body in each district through which the road will travel, they can be roped in to ensure all necessary support on the ground to ensure smooth take off and completion of the project. Side by side, they can be entrusted to assist the government engineers in monitoring the quality and workmanship of the works undertaken by the contractor/s. The concern Department can also give incentive for the best section of the road by dividing the work district wise. This will instill a sense of competition not just among the tribal hohos or districts but also among the contractors and department officers posted in the respective divisions.
It also stands to reason that there will be no commissions or taxes paid to anyone. And this will mean that this road project will need to be safeguarded from the forces of corruption, extortion and its ilk. As far as money and resource needed for this project, while the government has said that it will do the needful, if people are willing to contribute, such a mechanism can also be explored. The whole point is why not try and think out of the box for once and try and work out a unique model of development. To start off with, the concerned department should sit down with the different tribal hohos and explore ways to implement this Iconic project, an appropriate name for which could be ‘People’s Foothill Road’.
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