By Jonah Achumi
It was bound to happen anytime and so it just did. The collapse of the 4th mile river bridge near the CIHSR Hospital on the way to Niuland – Kuhuboto speaks volumes to us about our easy going and laid-back attitude. The reports of the findings have confirmed that the uncontrolled and the unchecked sand gravel mining has gradually exposed and eroded the mid-tier foundation of the RCC Steel Girder Bridge which finally washed off the river bedrocks that had protected the bridge columns all this while. The continuous and rampant river-bed mining which was done both upstream and downstream greatly affected the foundations of the bridge. Though there has been a volley of blames on our politicians and engineers for the delay in repairing and negligence of this bridge yet blaming them in the aftermath of whatever happened will not bring any solution. Several warnings were said to be issued by the department saying that some precautionary measures were needed to be taken immediately as the bridge was no longer safe for commuters. Even the department officials said that unless some strengthening of the bridge was done they will not bear any responsibility. Many times nature teaches us humans the hard way when everything seems to be futile in making us see the reality. Nature again has taught us in a more hard way. And it will teach us again if we don’t learn now.
The people as a whole should also accept responsibility for always being lackadaisical in their attitude and lack of concern. Continuous extractions of sand gravel and stone boulders too have aggravated the perilous condition of the bridge which led to this mishap. The river being a common property as per Naga custom and tradition is the responsibility of every village council authority situated near the rivers to ban such illegal activities and to protect the river and its resources by banning illegal excavation of river bed minerals.
It was very unfortunate that four lives have been lost and some injured but at the same time it was fortunate as unlike in other times many vehicles were not on the bridge otherwise it would have again claimed more lives. Had it not been a time of summer vacations for the schools, it would have been very disastrous for many school going children who ply on the bridge daily and would have been some real major catastrophe. Our casual approach and laxity in our outlook towards everything have made us face this and have taught us a lesson in a more hard way. It will teach us more in the coming days in many other situations too if we don’t learn in these kinds of circumstances. While raising this issue and concern on this continuous riverbed mining under this ill-fated bridge I have predicted about its impending fall exactly a year back in one of my write-ups but none bothered about it and today it has happened exactly the way I foretold. We don’t need any soothsayers or clairvoyants to see all these things which are bound to happen because these tell-tale signs are too obvious for all of us to see yet we prefer to ignore which has become our hallmark. The usage of modern machineries of course has become an inevitable part of our lives today but the rampant, uncontrolled and unabated extraction of the sand, gravels and boulders without any compunction and a second thought for the river, the environment and for the only bridge that served as the lifeline for the inhabitants on the other side was sure an overindulgence. This had led the river currents to become stronger below the bridge surging against the weak columns that were just waiting to give way.
Our people never know where to draw the line and to put the limit in any activity we do which has resulted in the mess in all spheres of life. When the writings on the walls are clear enough we always pretend not to see it and turn the other way. Turning a blind eye, giving the deaf ear and going like nothing is wrong has cost us dearly and again going to cost us very dearly in future in different other obvious situations too. That will cost our coming generations future. Be aware, dear Nagas!
Now ultimately it will be the people living towards the Kuhuboto, Niuland, Naga United- Showuba and Ralan area side who will have to face the brunt. There are more than a hundred villages where a huge considerable number of population that reside in that area. Many schools, colleges, offices, agricultural farms have been established and situated toward that side and commuters will have some real hard time for some months, especially the students attending schools and colleges and farmers who come to the market daily to sell their agricultural products from that side. Not to mention many other important day to day official and personal errands and duties. A new bridge cannot be just built now within a jiffy. They will either have to wait for sometime or the monsoon to sober down for the construction work to start. But hope some swift arrangement will be worked out to address this urgent situation.
The government, village councils and local authorities should exercise prudence when it comes to leasing out the riverbed for mining activities and also demarcate the areas clearly and monitor mining through a suitable institutional mechanism. A high level sort of watchdog committee which includes environmentalists and civil societies must be formed and Laws have to be enforced in an efficient and unbiased way and decisive steps must to be taken for environmental solution here in our state. Large scale mining of sand and gravel take away several folds higher than the natural replenishments, has led to irreparable damages to our land, water, biotic and social and human environments.
Nagas too need to put a hold on our random activities and adopt real sustainable measures with a pragmatic approach while dealing with our limited resources gifted by Mother Nature to our land. It is not only going to take away all our God-gifted resources but will also destroy the man-made structures and the only loser is going to be us in the end. We hanker so much on petroleum and other natural resources. So isn’t this riverbed an important natural resource too?
Just a few years back ,I very often warned an old high school friend of mine, who was a member of a development board of a prominent area about the over extraction of stones and gravels from the river below it but all my reminders and warnings went unheeded. I am no soothsayer but what I warned him has now come true, the bridge that served as a lifeline for around some hundred of villages has now fallen down. There had been instances of signature campaigns last year from various quarters for the immediate repair of the bridge but nothing done about it. Even engineers have issued warnings on several occasions. May this be a lesson for all of us.
Also not long from now, one thing that is apparently obvious we all can see is an impending massive flood looming over Dimapur town and we all know the reasons are for. The haphazard construction of buildings without any planning, the clogged drains, absence of proper water outlets and lack of public consciousness are too evident for the flood to happen. One alarming activity is the rapid construction of high elevated building raised from the road level without any drainage from Purana-Bazaar stretch to Chumukedima. Many colourful showrooms adjacent to the NH-2 are constructed without any precautionary measures incase there is a flood. Everyone can see it but our public leaders as well as the district administration are still silent on that. Hope it will not only be another failed warning as usual. Or else nature may lash its fury again and make us face the reality in a harder way again.
Let us all live responsibly and not wait for those final moments.
Endnote: While we Nagas are still fuming on our politicians and engineers for the collapsed bridge some non-locals have started earning by ferrying people from one side to the other charging Rs.20/- person. That is called making fortune through other’s misfortune albeit innovative and praiseworthy!
