Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Aug. 2 (EMN): After the late July monsoon flood that severely affected Dimapur which was as bad as the previous years, has unmasked the lackadaisical attitude of the people and the administration.
Floods are entirely manmade with poorly maintained drains, random throwing of wastes in open spaces and drains contributing to amassing of water after a heavy downpour, says Dimapur Revenue Officer (RO) Mhalo Lotha.
On being queried over land encroachments which was the main cause for poor town planning, the RO acknowledged that land encroachment was one concern that was contributing to floods in Dimapur. It is the collective responsibility of the concern colony councils and 'gaon buras' to see that their respective colony was planned responsibly and see that the land are not encroached more than the issued land patta, asserted Lotha.
Individuals are responsible including citizens and officials as well; habitation is growing at a fast pace in Dimapur and the Dhansiri river is running in the middle of the town which gives an idea about haphazard town planning , pointed out Lotha.
Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) administrator Moa Sangtam said a range of factors including land encroachment and lack of civic sense were among the issues that was contributing to Dimapur flood every year.
"Drains are not dustbins it was designed for easy flow of water but we are contributing for floods every monsoon by throwing and accumulating wastes in the drains", said Sangtam.
DMC has a separate 'drainage cleaning team' that cleans drains around Dimapur which falls under DMC every morning and they are monitored everyday to see if they have missed a day he said.
Planning has to have a long-term perspective but in Dimapur houses are built even on top of drains which are an apparent result of land encroachment. The drains are not in uniform and narrower because of encroachment. But the land owners cannot be questioned as they are in possession of land patta, pointed out the DMC administrator.
"Flood is a disaster that could be controlled to some extent but with collective efforts and responsibility and we cannot wait for monsoon and flood disaster to take place only at the time when it occurs. ".
He said the issue of land encroachment has been raised with the Dimapur district administration on Wed. Aug. 1 meeting and also pointed out that the narrow drains are not able to take the pressure of huge water accumulated.
