Road construction work in progress at Zeliangrong village on December 21. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | December 21
Tired of making repeated complaints to authorities about the bad roads in their area, and staying mute witnesses to their inaction, the residents of Dhobinala, Zeliangrong Village have taken up the task to repair the damaged stretches by themselves.
Despite being located in the heart of Dimapur, residents told The Morung Express that the roads in the locality have been in a shoddy condition for decades. Even autorickshaws, which are the only mode of public transportation available for most residents, refuse to enter the colony citing bad roads, they said.
“The road was first blacktopped around 1994-95 after which it received ‘lipstick’ carpeting under the Dimapur Municipal Council’s initiative which was washed away within a few months,” according to Akang Zeliang, the Treasurer of the Zeliangrong Village Council which launched the repair works on December 19.
The council began the road construction after collecting nearly Rs 15 lakh in cash from local residents and traders. Several residents, landowners as well as tenants are still coming with contributions, they said.
“It was in everyone’s interest to repair the road. It has been close to 25 years since the roads saw any major repair works and it has become almost inaccessible,” said Namsinlung Pamei, GB.
The road also provides municipal connectivity with many localities such as Lhomithi Colony, Naga Gaon Colony, Sachu colony, Sinal Bosti was well as the Pranabananda Women's College, among others.
The council members said that over the years, they had sent written requests to the authorities to include the repair works in the works programme. The requests however, fell on deaf ears and they have not heard back from the officials. This, in turn, drove them to dig in their own pockets and also reach out to residents to contribute towards the effort.
While a stretch of about 500 ft has already been paved with concrete, the council was also wary of whether the common people could, in their individual capacity, fund the repair of a road that should ideally be maintained by the government.
“The target is to cover at least another 1000 ft more but with the ongoing pandemic, we are also aware that many households may not have the liberty to keep contributing,” they pointed out.
