Principal Correspondent
Kohima, July 1
A day after the 12-hour Dimapur bandh called by Nagaland Foot Hills Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) that affected normal life and resulted in clashes leading to injuries to several people on Monday, the State Cabinet today has expressed anguish and also lambasted the committee for the entire episode.
Sources in Chief Minister’s Office here said the State Cabinet expressed it angst during an emergency Cabinet meeting held in the CMO today.
“The State Government is much anguished at the clashes that took place in Dimapur on June 30, which resulted in several injuries,” a release issued by the Cabinet Secretariat through Cabinet Secretary Toshi Aier said today. The government said the incidents were most unfortunate and could have been avoided if only the anti-social elements were kept at bay and the parties had chosen to resolve the differences peacefully through the instrumentality of the CSC.The government stated that the Nagaland Foot Hills Road Project is a very important project which has been envisioned to ensure safe and uninterrupted surface transport between the north and the south of the State without having to travel through the state of Assam. It said travelling through Assam invariably has become very inconvenient due to frequent bandhs called by various Assam-based organizations. Besides, it is being planned for the Foothill Road to pass through the most fertile areas of the State as well as the Nagaland Special Development Zones, the government said.
“The DPR (Detail Project Report) of the project is yet to be prepared and the State Government is exploring possible sources for funding,” the government stated.
The Cabinet Secretariat said during 2013-14, as per the demands of the people, the State government decided to take up the Foothills connectivity road with the aim of having at least a jeepable single landed road. Accordingly, an initial amount of Rs 40 crore was made available out of the State Plan and the alignment was worked out through consultations and viability surveys.
“On the insistence of the NFHRCC, the work order amounting to about Rs 16 crore was issued to two contractors of the NFHRCC, without tenders. This was strongly objected to by some Tribal Hohos as well as the NCSU,” it maintained.
Therefore, the Cabinet Secretary stated, open tenders were invited in order to maintain transparency for the next phase of works. At this juncture, the communiqué maintained, the NFHRCC served an ultimatum to the government to cancel the tenders and give the works to the contractors of their choice. But, in the interest of maintaining transparency, the department decided not to cancel the tenders, it said, adding that based on the bids, two contractors were issued with the work orders for Mon and Mokokchung sectors. This was ‘highly objected’ by the NFHRCC and threatened to go for bandh, it said.
The release went on to state that on receipt of information regarding the call for bandh by the NFHRCC, the State Cabinet met on June 26 and constituted the Cabinet Sub-Committee (CSC) under Home Minister Y Patton and subsequently a meeting of the CSC and the NFHRCC was convened at Hotel Japfu, Kohima on June 28 to discuss the issue threadbare.
The release said it was made clear that there was no basis for cancellation of the work orders issued, and the CSC appealed the NFHRCC to call off the bandh and assured that it would confer with the department in order to arrive at an amicable solution. However, the government lamented that the representatives of the NFHRCC instead staged a walk out from the meeting saying that they would go ahead with the bandh.
The release further stated that in the interest of the public, the state government disallowed the bandh as per the decision of the Cabinet. Based on the instructions of the State government, the release said the Home Commissioner directed the Deputy Commission Dimapur not to confront and let the bandh pass off peacefully if the NFHRCC did not call it off.
Despite this, the government said, it is unfortunate that incidents of violence took place amongst various groups of people at various locations of Dimapur.
Extreme restraint was shown by the district administration in handling the crowds, the government said, adding that the DC in the larger public interest and for securing safety of the citizens imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC banning assembly of five or more people only around the Green Park area where the situation was getting out of control.
