Dimapur Ao Youth Organisation backs restoration of Niuland-Zadima road

DIMAPUR — The Dimapur Ao Youth Organisation (DAYO) has pledged its support for the immediate restoration of the historic Niuland-Zadima road, a vital alternative route connecting Dimapur to Kohima.

In a press release, the organisation alleged that while the government projects itself as a welfare state, its actions tell a different story.

“The focus remains exclusively on NH-29 which over the years has turned into a death trap and road coffin, claiming lives and causing unbearable hardship especially during the monsoon when rockfalls and landslides make the highway unplayable.

“In stark contrast, the alternative Niuland-Zadima the other viable route to Kohima has been wilfully neglected,” the DAYO claimed.

Also read: Zhadima Village Council voices concern over neglected Kohima–Dimapur roads

The organisation stated that the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways had sanctioned INR 321.15 crore for the construction of a capital bypass road from Dimapur to Kohima (34.171 km) under the ISC scheme in 2016-17 on EPC basis. However, nearly a decade later, no significant progress has been made on the project.

According to the DAYO, this reinforces the suspicion that the government’s priority lies in empty paperwork and rhetoric and not in providing genuine road connectivity to the people of the state.

“The recurring roadblocks, casualties and untold miseries suffered by commuters cannot be brushed aside any longer. Neglecting this alternative route is not just administrative inefficiency but a gross injustice and an unforgivable betrayal of public trust,” it maintained.

While urging the Government of Nagaland to take immediate and concrete action to upgrade and maintain the Niuland-Zadima road, the DAYO warned that if the government failed to act within a reasonable timeframe, the affected villages and like-minded youth organisations would be forced to launch strong democratic protests and agitations until their demands were met.