- DIMAPUR — The Nagaland Foothills Road
Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) has expressed dismay over being excluded from
recent developments concerning the Foothills Road project, which it has
spearheaded since inception in 2013.
- In a press release issued on Friday, the NFHRCC stated that
it was not invited to the proposed consultative meeting on April 30 in Kohima,
convened by the state government to deliberate on the Foothills Road project.
The meeting was expected to include 60 MLAs, two Members of Parliament, and
representatives from apex tribal and women hohos. The meeting was later
postponed, reportedly following intervention from other organisations, the
committee said.
- Further, the committee criticised the Public Works Department
(Roads & Bridges) for issuing an office order dated May 28 to begin survey
work for demarcating a 30-metre Right of Way (RoW) for the road alignment
beginning June 2, without informing or consulting the NFHRCC.
- Stating that the move was akin to “adding more salt to the
wound”, the committee reiterated its position that “there will be no Foothills
Road alignment or realignment or expansion or contraction without consultation
with NFHRCC.”
Also read: Nagaland Foothills Road Coordination Committee reconstitutes executive, adopts resolutions
- According to the NFHRCC, the Foothills Road project was
conceptualised by the committee, and its efforts began with a joint survey on
September 24, 2013, following a green signal from the then Chief Minister
Neiphiu Rio. The project was officially launched on December 21, 2013, at
Longtho under Mangkolemba division.
- In 2018, the committee handed over No Objection Certificates
(NOCs) from landowners to the chief minister with the understanding that land
would be provided and roads would be built in return, in line with the Ministry
of Road Transport and Highways’ (MoRTH) policy at the time.
- In its statement, the NFHRCC underscored its role in the
project’s development, highlighting how it had worked to convince landowners to
part with their land without compensation. It had also reached understandings
with various Naga political groups to prevent taxation on the project,
coordinated logistics with contractor bodies, and even imposed a bandh in
Dimapur against alleged “unfair practices” in the project in June 2014. The
release also noted that over the last 13 years, seven prominent committee
members had passed away while serving the project.
