There are no easy roads to travel in Nagaland roads. In fact, upgrading the entire transportation system, beginning with the roads is an absolute necessity. The deteriorated and unpredictable road conditions with deep potholes and some partially swept away puts at risk people’s safety on a daily basis, as well as directly interrupting mobility, trade and commerce. The cost of the poor road conditions impede human and economic development, and increase the cost of vehicle maintenance and repairs, and generally have a negative impact on the overall cost of living.
In Nagaland state, the road conditions have been sadly neglected for years along with other basic infrastructure components (for example, water and electricity). Historically, successive governments, irrespective of political party, have failed in upgrading the roads’ engineering, construction and quality. Year after year, the need for immediate interventions and responses has been raised consistently to the government.
Sadly, the government’s response or lack thereof, remains inadequate. The measures which have been taken thus far are mere ‘band-aid’ responses that are cosmetic, superficially pleasing and aimed at temporarily pacifying the public. Overall, these inadequate responses demonstrate the government’s lack of respect to the people’s need for freedom of movement that will improve their quality of life and well being.
The public needs to question why and find the root causes for why Nagaland’s roads are is such deplorable condition. This is crucial because a well planned people-friendly road network is one of the keys to unlocking the jigsaw towards sustainable development.
And therefore, what do bad roads in Nagaland really mean? Who benefits from bad roads? Is the present technology for road engineering, design and construction faulty? Are the contractors responsible for the quality of roads we have? Is the government allocating sufficient resources required for the type of roads that are needed, and if so, where are those new and improved roads and highways? While these questions remain unanswered, the impact affects the quality of lift, drains the economy and adversely affects all productivity, communication and commerce.
The road systems are one of the primary examples of Nagaland’s sad state of affairs and poor governance. They are crucial to the people’s well being and make it possible to be mobile, transact business through the exchange of goods and services, as well as, and to connect and inter-relate.
Durable roads require a strong commitment with engineering and construction techniques and materials that are appropriate for the geography and terrain. Building a road with a structurally adequate foundation would reduce maintenance costs over the long term. From this point of view, the solution seems quite simple: build a road with a solid foundation. Obviously some are benefitting financially from the shoddy road construction, and ordinary people are on the receiving end of its poor results.
