Landslides during the monsoon season impact lives in Nagaland every year, causing damage to properties, farmlands and roads, cutting off lifelines to many places in the state. The Himalayan region is tectonically active and characterised by steep slopes and high rate of surface erosion. This, combined with heavy precipitation during monsoon, poses a high risk for landslides and flash floods in the region.
Now, with the onset of the year’s monsoon season, disaster in the form of landslides has already begun to hit several districts of Nagaland, particularly the National Highway-39 between Dimapur and Kohima where intense earth-cutting for a four-lane highway is in progress. The latest affected area near Peducha, a perennial sinking section of the road, has partially cut off the highway as vehicles plying this stretch were diverted to small neglected village roads that are otherwise hardly used. The NH-39 is not just a highway that leads to the state capital and few districts but it also connects Nagaland with the neighbouring Manipur state and many heavy vehicles, especially those carrying essential commodities, have been stranded due to the landslide.
The engineers and work supervisors concerned should see to it that the drainage systems along the highway were not affected from the ongoing works. Another factor is the haphazard dumping of the excavated soil in loose areas, which are likely to cause artificial landslides, and eventually cause bigger disasters. This needs to be looked into immediately by the authorities.
The unfortunate part is that, the state government continues to play blind to the recurring problem on the hapless National Highway on grounds that the highway is the lookout of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Meanwhile, the village roads on the peripheries of the highway which, at times of emergency like the present situation, serve as alternative routes are totally neglected.
This time, the authorities of the villages in the vicinity of the National Highway reportedly approached the Chief Minister’s Office and the Minister for Roads & Bridges for repairing of the existing roads which lie in deplorable conditions, however, there has been reports that the government was yet to respond to such appeals.
Landslides-caused roadblocks are a threat to all, but more so to those needing emergency medical services. They also impact more harshly on the people in villages and remote areas as their food security is affected due to decreased food produce (when their agricultural lands are hit), and lack of access to essential commodities.
This column has consistently been registering the need for the policy makers to formulate pragmatic plans for the state to face natural disasters which the state is prone to, particularly landslides, and the need to strategize resilient measures and policies. And we say it again, it’s time for the powers-that-be to learn from past experiences and prepare us for a safer present and future.
While mitigation strategies to support contingency planning are called for, long-term protection measures of soil instability and erosion, and conversion of the affected areas for sustainable land-use are also as important.
We must remember the major landslide which devastated Phesama village in 2015, displacing about 250 people. The recurrent landslide there keeps affecting that stretch of the National Highway-39, a lifeline to not just several Naga villages but the neighbouring Manipur state as well. While the villagers are still trying to recuperate from the 2015 devastation, the affected area, including the National Highway still looms with uncertainty as to whether it could withstand this year’s monsoon or not.
Sustainable programmes have to be initiated for affected areas to address and mitigate such devastating natural disasters like landslides, while also taking into account the rights and needs of vulnerable groups to ensure equitable access to services.
