EMN
Dimapur, November 20
With the Hornbill Festival and the Christmas season coming up, the district administration of Kohima has issued a number of directives to the citizens for peaceful and smooth conduct of the festivities. Some of the chief concerns of the administration are the obstructions along public roadways, primarily construction materials, debris and waste and idle vehicles.
For instance, the administration observed, ‘due to heavy vehicular traffic, made worse by narrow roads and absence of diversion routes, as well as lack of traffic discipline, the citizens are subjected to untold traffic jams daily.’
In this connection, the deputy commissioner of Kohima, Ruovilatuo Mor has issued a set of directives for strict compliance to mitigate public inconvenience in the interest of public. The directives are:* Removal of all off-road vehicles parked along public roads immediately
* To avoid dumping of construction or any bulk materials on the public road ( except for road construction). Even to remove unavoidable dumping within 24 hrs, and any storage beyond shall be subject to administrative permission after physical verification of genuine necessity.
* To strictly comply with traffic regulations.
Welcoming the Hornbill Festival and the Christmas Festive Season, all out efforts are on for improvement of cleanliness and sanitation by all concerned including improvement of roads, the administration said.
In a letter on Wednesday, the deputy commissioner stated that ‘horrifically, Kohima road is rather the store of dusts and mud, from where it is dispersed throughout to every nook and corner.’
‘Literally, Kohima remains a city of dusts and mud which demands drastic measures and revolutionary response from every agencies and citizens as well, for transformation into a clean, beautiful, healthy place, befitting the state capital,’ Mor stated.
The essence of the much-touted Smart City will never be achieved without concerted efforts of everyone, he said.
The deputy commissioner has appealed to every citizen to cooperate and adhere to the guidelines to ‘reduce dust/mud, sustain the road in the interest of public with immediate effect.’ The guidelines are:
* Avoid damage of road surface by direct unloading of stones, fire woods, bricks or any heavy materials, but to be done so by passing.
* Avoid soiling of the road by direct unloading of cement, sand, bricks, chippings, stone dusts, excavated earth on the road, but plastic/tarpaulin should be laid on the bed to prevent particles of such materials spreading out on the road surface.
* Random excavation of the road surface to be avoided under any circumstances.
* Any earth excavation on the road side or above should be ensured not to spill over the road/drains.
* Direct channeling of drain waters into the road should never be done which only accelerates road damage.
* Blockage of drains/encroachment, damage or alteration of alignment and alleviation of public road should be strictly avoided during construction of private approach road/structures.
* Throwing of garbage/waste materials etc into the drains should be strictly avoided.
* Particularly the road maintenance agencies should ensure timely repair of potholes throughout the year, since a stitch in time always saves nine. Also be vigilant on management of water ways during rainy seasons.
The deputy commissioner added that ‘conscientious action and restraints can only bring changes to our horrific status of sanitation and road conditions. Otherwise, he said ‘we will remain the same in blame game.’
To encourage inter-tribal cultural interaction and bringing together the festivals of the various tribes under one aegis, the Government of Nagaland has evolved a festival called the Hornbill festival, where one can see a mélange of Naga cultural displays at one place.
Organized by the State Directorate of Tourism every year from December 1 to December 10 in Kohima town since 2000, the festival is intended to revive, protect and preserve the richness and uniqueness of the Naga heritage and attract tourists.
