Our Correspondent
Kohima | May 20
Following a campaign for good roads initiated by the Concerned Citizen of Nagaland (CCN), Minister for Roads & Bridges, Y Vikheho Swu today said people need to first understand the entire reason for bad roads in the state.
While appreciating the CCN for initiating such a move, the Minister during a press conference today said: “Every citizen has every right to express their grievances to the government or any authority. What concerns us is that when people want to take up issues concerning public welfare they must first understand the issue thoroughly.
Otherwise it will end up projecting only one side of the issue and this may send a lot of wrong information to the general public.”
He underlined that PWD R&B is responsible for the major length of roads, followed by the National Highways department, and other stretches come under the Municipal Councils, BRO, and General Supply roads (GS) which is under the army, and respective villages.
The Minister observed that one factor for bad roads is that line departments like Telecom and PHE contribute to premature wearing away and damage caused by digging channels for cable lines or pipe lines, without taking permission from the departments. He informed that in most cases after laying cables or pipe lines the openings are left without proper recovery. “We see leakages of water from the pipe line running out on the roads surface and also creating seepage’s underneath that leads to creating pothole, much earlier than expected,” he added.
Secondly, he noted that in many places the public does not give sufficient space for road construction, including the “right of way.” He also stated that side drains are clogged due to garbage dumped by public, thereby affecting longevity of roads.
Citing the land ownership issue as another problem, he said “Landowners in many cases have negatively contributed to the developmental works including roads. Firstly, not allowing others to work on their land causes great delay in execution of works. Secondly, unethically disturbing the progress of construction works throughout if they wish to do so.”
The Minister however conceded that poor workmanship is a major problem. This, he stated is where the department comes in, wherein, first and foremost proper Detailed Project Reports must be provided. He stressed on the need for supervision of works and urged contractors to follow the work specification provided by the department.
“Our roads are bad because government does not have enough money for repair and maintenance of roads,” he added while pointing out that the centre does not provided fund for repair and maintenance. The Minister divulged that before 2014, fund was provided to the state through special category funding. After lifting of special category funding, R&B was affected the most, he said, as fund for maintenance has come down to Rs. 40 crore from Rs. 200 to Rs.300 crore.
He concluded that the government, contractors, public and land owners all need to take responsibility on this issue.
Nagaland requires Rs. 350 Crore each year for road maintenance
The Minister revealed that Nagaland requires a minimum of Rs. 350 crore each year to maintain the existing roads. He however said that the state is recieving only Rs. 40 crore per year.
He further revealed that the department is contemplating bringing out a road maintenance policy, while also informing that the maintenance policy will be put up in the cabinet and hopefully approved.
