EMN
Dimapur, March 8
Minister for Roads & Bridges (R&B), Kuzholuzo (Azo) Nienu on Thursday inspected the ongoing road formation cutting of Foothill Road at Longto, in Mokokchung district and Yanmhon area, under Bhandari subdivision in Wokha district on Thursday.
Interacting with the locals of Yanmhon area under Bhandari sub-division, the minister acknowledged the untold pain and harassment the border area people face everyday. He said the government is very concerned about their plight and hence the proposed foothill road has been initiated despite fund paucity.
It has been only three months since the work on the road started and it is progressing very well, he told the locals while appealing for their continued support to the department.“If there is any issue relating to the quality of work, please come and report it to the department officials to resolve it instead of taking it to the press or disrupting work progress,” he implored.
Highlighting the objective of the ongoing road construction, Azo pointed out that it has been rightly termed as ‘people’s road’ as it was taken up with a view to do away the harassment meted out to Nagas while travelling in neighbouring state.
Once the road project is completed, bandh and harassments will be a thing of the past, he stated.
Also appreciating the foothill road committee for their support and assistance to the department, the minister noted that the committee’s help has been very encouraging.
Earlier, interacting with the minister, local leaders of Yamhon area highlighted the untold sufferings and pain the Naga people living along the border go through. “We have always been at the receiving end and have been praying for a foothill road,” they said.
Appreciating the minister for visiting the people of the area to listen to their plight, locals in Liphi village said, “We have only heard and read in papers but have not seen any minister for the last one decade coming to visit us like this’.”
Inspecting the progress of the work in both the districts, the minister appreciated the good pace of work and urged the people of both the areas to continue extending cooperation and support to the department to insure that ‘people’s road’ becomes a reality at the earliest.
Besides the foothill road, the minister also inspected ongoing NLCPR and PMGSY road constructions in Bhandari area.
The Foothill Road will cover Tizit in Mon district till Niuland under Dimapur district in the first phase while second phase will cover Chumukedima till Khelma in Peren district. The total length of the road has been estimated to be around 300 kms.
Altogether, road formation cutting of over 3 kms in Mokokchung district and 22 kms in Wokha district has been completed till date.
The minister was accompanied by R&B Chief Engineer D Mero, Additional Chief Engineers Khupi and Tali, SE Temsu and engineers of all divisions during the inspection.
