The state government recently woke up from deep slumber to the atrocious roads that infest the state. On October 10 last, the government organised a greatly hyped event called ‘Colloquium on Road Connectivity’ at the State Banquet Hall, with what it stated, to invite views and suggestions from concerned departments, civil society, NGOs and professionals from different backgrounds and to evolve a workable strategy collectively towards building good roads.
As per the concept note of the event, Nagaland is connected by a road network stretching 12,079.80 km and 173 bridges under PWD (Roads and Bridges) and 11 roads under PWD (National Highways) covering a total length of 1546.68 km while another six national highways stretching 795 km were recently approved for ‘in principle’. Somehow, that the government aims to make Nagaland a nerve centre of connectivity to the rest of the Southeast Asian countries almost upstaged the glaring need of attention which the existing hapless roads in the state are facing today.
The growth in number of vehicles in the recent times in tandem with the worsening conditions of roads which become treacherous in wet conditions, heightens the need for more attention from the government towards maintenance of existing roads, whether it be state or national highway that runs across the state. Good drainages, which constitute a vital component of good roads, hardly found a mention during the meeting. A state like Nagaland is prone to landslides and flash floods, and this problem is compounded by various human activities such as stone quarrying and deforestation near existing roads, random dumping of wastes into the few functioning drainages, haphazard discarding of earth dug for various construction purposes on roadsides etc. Sadly, no long-term protection measures of soil instability and erosion, and sustainable measures have been discussed. During emergency times, village roads on the peripheries of the national or state highways often come to the rescue and serve as alternative routes however deplorable they may be, but they remain inconspicuous to the authorities for any upkeep.
Chief Minister TR Zeliang appears to have conveniently put the responsibility of overseeing road projects on the public and landowners, which is otherwise a task for department engineers. He reportedly stated that the responsibility of the government is to prepare concept papers and DPRs to get the sanctions, but the responsibility lies on the people or land owners to support implementation of the projects, especially on two fronts- oversee that the projects are implemented as per specification according to the approved DPR and complete projects as per agreement between the concerned department and the firm (contractor).
Although the chief minister, to his credit, admitted that the government is aware of the growing dissatisfaction expressed by various sections of the people on the state’s infrastructure (particularly the roads) and went on to propose the formation of a ‘Committee on Roads’, on priority to work jointly with the concerned department for implementation of better roads and connectivity at the earliest, no suggestions or proposals were made on who would constitute this committee.
The Roads and Bridges minister, in his speech, reportedly said that in order to maintain and sustain the existing road infrastructure assets for more than 12,000 km and 173 bridges, the annual fund requirement was worked out to nearly Rs. 300 cr. annually, which currently stands slightly below 100 cr. mark, leaving one in a state of scepticism whether we will see good roads once approved, or will the amount percolate into the pockets of those who are privy to how it all functions.
The so-called resolutions of the ‘colloquium’ is also a farce, with ‘transparency and accountability’ being frequently yet ineffective flaunted words. Nevertheless, involving the State Quality Control Board to ensure the quality of the road construction and maintenance does sound hopeful, but will it deliver?
The bottom line is, it is easy to say that we will build more roads; but the moot point is, what about our existing roads? Do we just leave them as they are and move on to the new ones that have been approved ‘in principle’?
