Dimapur, Sep. 10 (EMN): Amid pressure from various organisations, the government of Nagaland has decided to repair the foothill road. The decision was taken at a meeting convened by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio with the deputy CM and department of Works & Housing officers on Friday to address the issue related to the road.
The department has been directed to start working on making the foothill road motorable while awaiting the approval of the proposal for declaration as a National Highway or under the Bharatmala Pariyojna, stated an update received on Friday.
It came a few days after the Nagaland Foothill Road Co-ordination Committee (NFHRCC) and several civil society organisations announced that they would begin the first phase of agitation on September 13 if the state government failed to respond positively to their plea of ‘making the foothill road pliable while awaiting the mega project’.
An update from the department of Works and Housing informed that ‘administrative approval for an amount of INR 20 crore has been accorded for taking up emergency works of the said road and INR 10.00 crore earmarked for the completion of Doyang Bridge near Governor's Camp during the current financial year’.
It added that the department had been instructed to start the tendering process for the project.
“The importance of having a road along the foothills of Nagaland is known to everyone. Such a road, apart from convenience of travel, also has the potential to bring about changes in the socio-economic front. The State Government had, therefore, initiated the proposal for construction of more than 300 km along the foothill areas of the North Western part of the state encompassing large areas of Mon, Longleng, Mokokchung, Wokha, Dimapur and Peren Districts,” read the statement.
However, it said that the proposal was taken up for funding at various forums as the state government didn’t have sufficient resources.
This long-felt need of the state to construct a road along the foothill areas is still yet to be made operational, it stated, adding that the government is committed to make it a reality.
“This commitment also forms part of the Nagaland Vision 2030,” it stated.
Towards this end, the government had, during 2013-14 tied up funding of INR 235 crore for the foothill connectivity covering a distance of 342 km through the Special Plan Assistance (SPA).
“Accordingly, works were taken up from 2013-14 onwards as per the budget allocation of INR 4000 lakh during 2013-14 and INR 270 lakh during 2014-15, totalling to INR 6700 lakh (INR 67 cr). Regrettably, the SPA funding was discontinued by the Government of India from 2015-16 onwards and therefore, all items of work projected in the proposal could not be taken up,” informed the update.
It stated that the state government has been continuously pursuing with the Centre for release of the balance funds under the SPA so that the incomplete works could be completed. It also said that the state government had, during 2014-15, submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to declare foothill road as National Highway but it is yet to be finalised.
The department went on to state the chief minister of Nagaland had taken up the proposal with the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways earlier this year, personally urging the minister to take up the project under Bharatmala Pariyojna project on priority.
Maintaining that the state government is making all efforts to get the project completed, the update also said that the CM had also taken up the same issue with the prime minister on September 6 this year.
The update, however, said that the CM convened a meeting to address the “immediate issue” and decided to make the road pliable as demanded by several organisations.
It may be mentioned that the NFHRCC and several other civil society organisations had earlier served a 30-day ultimatum to make the foothill road motorable before extending the deadline to September 12 following government’s request.
At its recent meeting, the CSOs resolved to begin its first phase of agitation by shutting down the office of PWD (R&B) Dimapur division and restrict movement of all government vehicles in Dimapur from September 13 if the state government fails to give positive response to their demand by September 12.