Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Oct. 20: A landslide that occurred in June this year at National Highway 202 between Kiphire and Tuensang is still awaiting clearance, leaving residents of the area facing many problems and hardships.
A reliable source told Eastern Mirror that the affected area which stretches 350 metre is “completely cut off” near Yayi Bridge. According to the source, the dead body of an assistant lab technician from Phuvkiu village, who was killed in a road mishap in Shamator, had to be carried on a bamboo pole to cross the landslide-affected road on Oct. 19. Many appeals made to the state government to clear the road, the source informed, have fallen on ‘deaf ears.’ “The road is the main lifeline of the people connecting the two districts and appropriate measures should be taken at the earliest for clearance of the landslide near Yayi Bridge,” the source said.
The incident has caused outrage, at least in social media platforms. “…first the ENPO friends (sic) should question their respective MLA for being silent and demand response why ENPO should always be getting a step-motherly treatment in infrastructure and development. Who is at fault? Who is to be blamed? Is it the state government or the elected assembly representatives? It will be good if we can find out the root cause. If it is the failure of the government, then ENPO have (sic) every right to demand for a separate statehood so that the people can go forward, compete and live at par with other fellow human beings,” a social media user commented.
According to another user: “there is a difference between National Highways (NH) and State Highways (SH). But it is not a question of being an Eastern Naga or not. We all know the conditions of our roads. We all know that corruption has robbed us, and the common people suffer the most. A deceased person having to be carried to his native village that way is heartbreaking.”
