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Tongpang Ozukum inspecting a site of repairs in Mokokchung town on April 25.[/caption]
Our Correspondent
Mokokchung, April 25 (EMN): The minister for Public Works department Tongpang Ozukum on Wednesday said that his department was confident about completing the major road repair projects across Nagaland within a stipulated timeline.
The minister made the statement during an on-spot inspection of road repair projects being undertaken by his department in Mokokchung. Ozukum, who toured work sites at different localities of Mokokchung on foot, said 'we are hopeful that the current road repairing projects projected by respective division executive engineers of each district will be completed in sixty working days.'
The minister, who will be leaving for Tuensang and Noklak day after tomorrow to oversee other road repairing projects, said he was planning to visit the other districts as well. He asserted that the road projects were progressing 'very well' in every district and that he was satisfied with the work he had recently inspected.
“As the concerned minister I have concern for the entire district. So according to the road project forwarded by the respective division executive engineers, accordingly we are allotting the fund,” the minister said.
Out of INR 50 crore announced by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio for the road revamping programme, INR 25 crore have been released for the first phase and another INR 25 crore will be released soon, the minister informed.
Since the projects were been implemented simultaneously in various locations, he said, there is a 'machinery problem' faced by the department. “The machine that R&B department has at its deposal is not enough. So the department is hiring machinery from private firms and also from the Mechanical department,” the minister said.
The mechanical department has provided 39 road rollers. However, most of the machines are old and the department is facing a lot of problems, he said. He observed that Traffic was another problem hampering the progress of work. “Where there is no traffic the road is much smoother and where there is traffic there are ups and downs in the work,” he said.
Ozukum also said if weather conditions are sunny, the work also will be expedited.
Also, the minister visited ongoing road projects at Wokha today and commented that progress was 'satisfactory.'
The department's officials commented that after many years the department was taking up road projects 'themselves' and that it was 'very encouraging for employees to be visited by the minister for the first time to take firsthand information on the field.'
On other matters, officers have lamented land encroachment by private residents besides not giving way for free flow of water through their land 'which is wearing out the roads very easily.'
