Kohima, May 20 : Amid the growing criticism and disgruntlement from the public over the poor condition of roads in Nagaland, the Minister for Roads & Bridges (R&B) Y Vikheho Swu on Friday virtually slashed left, right, and center: he blamed the state government, the departments and contractors, and the public too as ‘all collectively responsible for the bad roads.’
In the words of the politician: “If our road is bad, we are all responsible–the government for not having framed a proper policy or not enforcing existing policy for adherence; the department for not preparing workable DPR and lack of supervision; contractors for not following specification of works listed for execution thereby compromising the quality of workmanship; the public for not cooperating to developmental programs of the government in the way it should and not caring for public properties, and landowners for looking at their benefit only.”
The minister addressed a press conference at the PWD chief engineer’s conference hall in Kohima town on Friday afternoon.
Swu said that every citizen had the right to express grievances to the government or any other authority. While acknowledging that a group of people–‘Concerned Citizens of Nagaland’–had initiated a campaign demanding good roads as citizens’ right on May 14, the minister felt that the citizens ‘must first understand’ why the roads in Nagaland ‘are bad in its entirety and not blame the government alone.’
The minister said that most of the roads in Nagaland come under the PWD (R&B) and under the National Highways Authority; others fall under the BRO, Urban Development, Municipal and General Supply roads under the army. In addition, he said, a ‘good length of roads’ is ‘owned’ by villages and the R&B department. Therefore, Vikheho Swu asserted, it will be ‘good for anyone to know which roads they are referring to while expressing their concerns.’
Asserting that the Nagaland government ‘does not have enough money for repair and maintenance of roads,’ the minister felt that the public ‘must understand that the central government provides fund only for construction of new roads and fund cannot be diverted.’ The ‘situation was better earlier before 2014’ as funds were given to the state as Special Category funding. ‘But now, after lifting the Special Category status, the worst-affected department is the R&B as the allocation of funds for maintenance has come down to Rs.40 crore since 2015 from 200-300 crore,’ he said.
Swu also informed that the department had proposed that the 2016-2017 NLCPR (Non Lapsable Common Pool Resources) be utilized to maintain roads in the districts and those in ADC headquarters on priority. The minister also said that the “road maintenance policy” has “already been framed” and “will soon be put up for cabinet approval.” Minimum of Rs.350 crore will be required as per the policy though, Swu said. He is hopeful that it would receive approved at the earliest.
Besides, Swu also blamed ‘several other major problems’ for the ‘deteriorating condition of roads in Nagaland.’ Departments such as telecom and PHE contribute to ‘premature wearing away and damage of roads caused by digging channels for cable lines and pipes without consulting the PWD and leaving the channels without proper recovery in most cases,’ he explained. These works, he asserted, were undertaken on the ‘shoulders of the roads which are the main supports and provide longevity to the roads, and leakages from the pipelines to the surface as well as underneath the roads lead to creation of potholes earlier than expected.’
Another problem, Swu said, was that the public ‘does not give sufficient space for road construction.’ This results in ‘not having enough space for road shoulders and side drains.’ The roads that have side drains are “permanently clogged due to garbages (sic) dumped by public without any sense of guilt,” Swu said. ‘If the drains were allowed to flow without blockage, the roads would last longer.’
He also maintained that ‘landowner issues in many cases’ have ‘contributed negatively to development.’ He cited instances when landowners disallowed work on their land and even “unethically disturbing” development work. ‘Such situations cause delay in the execution of works; they lead to compromise in quality and workmanship,’ Swu explained.
Thankfully, Swu was also quick to add that ‘poor workmanship’ was another major factor why Naga roads do not last long. He maintained that the department must provide ‘proper DPR and conduct regular supervision’ while ‘contractors must follow works specification provided by the department.’ In many cases, he said, the lack of said regulations have led to poor workmanship.
When queried about plans to penalize erring officials or contractors, the minister replied in the affirmative but did not specify the penalty.