This time, road repairs come with drainage construction in Dimapur

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Feb. 14: Considering Dimapur’s struggle with problems related to its drainage system—considered one of the major factors behind the seasonal flash floods—the present government has adopted an approach to ensure all road repair works in the state’s commercial hub are accompanied by a parallel project ,to build (better) drainages.

At present, the state’s Public Works department is engaged in conducting repair works in 25 road stretches in Dimapur. “The carpeting or blacktopping of the roads can start only when the drainages are completed,” a source from the PWD told Eastern Mirror. ­­­­According to the source, even though the department had offered ‘cross-drainage’ to colonies in low-lying areas, “the residents did not want the outlet to be built” because it could cause stagnation of water.

“Apart from residents not complying, there are many other issues such as encroachment of land by private entities that make it very difficult for the department to do the work. We are trying to find alternative options to drain out the surface water such as raising the road level and let it slope it down to the drain,” the source said.
According to the source, contractors should also take the responsibility. “It is not the job of the department to follow up on (certain) issues as per contract; we are willing to help but it hampers the other works needed to be done,” the source maintained.

“When the road is extended, drainage is compromised since the tenders were submitted well in advance; it might not cause a problem but proper drainage is compromised in this regard,” the source said.

As per the department’s plan, the drainages are set to be completed within less than two months.

According to a study conducted by the Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB), “the insufficiency of proper drainage and sewage system” in Dimapur, not only cause floods but also leads to water pollution in the rivers around Dimapur.

“Since there are no major industries in Dimapur that can cause serious contamination, the pollution is caused due to domestics and municipal wastes that were dumped into the drains,” NPCB reported.

The board also found out that the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in drain water in Dimapur ranges from 6 to 98 mg/l, while chemical oxygen demand (COD) vary from 7.5 to 129 mg/l. BOD level was also found to be highest at drain passing from Signal-Viola colony bridge, according to the study conducted in 2016.