Z. Lohe
The Guwahati-Shillong 4-lane road has given immense facelift to Meghalaya. Similarly, when the ongoing 4-lane road between Dimapur and Kohima is completed, the face of Nagaland will be changed. This is my cherished dream that one day I also may ride a 4-lane road in Nagaland, and Dimapur-Kohima road is now in the process to have that standard of road hopefully. If this road is successfully completed, it may become a catalyst for improvement of other State roads.
Seeing the beginning of the formation cutting at few locations, I feel elated as though I am already riding a 4-lane road despite of the bumpy journey. Seeing people working on road, I used to feel that I am somewhere else and not in Nagaland and yet indeed it is in Nagaland. Seeing the alignments for formation cutting made above the road, it gives me hope that yes, Nagaland can also have development after a long wait.
As the formation cutting has begun at few locations, the two major perspectives are the concern. The first is the quality workmanship. We all know that the contractors have agreed to execute the works as per the written specifications provided by the Union Road ministry. The contractors are therefore bound to follow the agreement from formation cutting to finishing touch. If the contractors are found compromising the quality work in respect of any item, they are punishable under the terms of agreement as I know as layman. The road once completed should be very lasting unlike other roads constructed or repaired by Nagaland PWD or BRTF. The second is the timely completion of the project. We all know that the contractors are given time schedule within which they should hand over the road to the people to enjoy. So, now the questions are how to ensure quality workmanship and its completion on time.
When Shillong is linked with 4-lane road, can’t Kohima be linked with the same category of road? There is no question that the project will be hampered for want of sufficient fund. The Union Road Transport Ministry has approved to give this road to Nagaland, and I am sure till it is completed the Ministry will neither leave it on halfway nor will there be dearth of fund. I am also confident that the Union Ministry will insist on timely completion to avoid cost escalation.
Meanwhile, it is encouraging to note that the Western Angami Public Organisation(WAPO) and the Chakhro Public Organisation (CPO) under whose jurisdictions the road passes through have given their cooperation publicly to the contractors who are given the works by the Union ministry. In the context of Nagaland, the public support, particularly those of the land owners, is the basic requirement for development. It is also a challenge to those Villages through whose lands the road passes, whether undue and unwarranted interferences from bad and anti-people elements be freely allowed to harass the workers at sites or hamper the progress of the work within their jurisdictions. As the WAPO and CPO have given their declaration to support the contractors, it is now the duty of everyone to extend cooperation for the success story.
Nagaland desperately needs this road after 53 years of Statehood. The general public are anxious to have this 4-lane road in reality and not in news papers. Yet, the project has to be executed in Nagaland and not in Assam or Meghalaya. Therefore, this project can meet the same fate as the 4 nos. of 2-lane road under SARDP-NE faced. The future of the 4 roads is now in the ICU of the Supreme Court of India. The worry is that those who harmed the 2-lane roads in question are still around and in a position to highjack the project. The site at those few spots where formation cuttings are on tells the story as we see the presence of security personals guarding the work sites. I intentionally stopped and asked one such on duty, and the reply was ‘Ami khan aha pichete dikdar nadiya hoishe, koi’.
Be it any project in Nagaland, it becomes like carcass in African zoo which attracts wolves, foxes, crocodiles and vultures. (I am compelled to use unpolished vocabularies suiting the actions of those who were responsible for destroying developments.) These animals were largely responsible for stalling the progress of the 2-lane roads. The contractors of the 2-lane roads may not be perfect, and yet had the Govt. of Nagaland been determined much better achievement would have been made. Be it politicians or bureaucrats, barring few God fearing ones, the rest have become so immersed with greed that they do have so much gut to squeeze their share of commission out of the project that comes on their way. Beside, may not be all, but many cadres in NPGs are experts in extracting percentage from development funds taking that role to be the sole purpose for which they are enrolled as national workers. Therefore, the combination of these forces which are craving to make money illegally out of any project may prowl on the 4-lane which is much stronger than those forces in the periphery desiring to have the project through. A time will come when the contractors may not be given congenial atmosphere at work site unless those animals are satisfied. A time will come when the contractors fail to get cooperation from the nodal authorities less huge commissions are doled out of their payments. All these illegal extractive mechanisms can be inflicted on the contractors whereby the quality workmanship is compromised or the work is placed under controversy and therefore delayed or abandoned.
There is also another tendency whereby the innocent and magnanimous landowners or Villagers are incited to claim compensations unreasonably if the history is to be repeated here. To avoid embarrassment I will not reiterate mentioning the location, but some Naga officers, once upon a time, guided the landowners to convert the waste lands into costly orchard overnight ahead of inspection for the purpose of compensation. Some of those experts may still be around or the wisdom might have been passed down to their juniors who may like to make hay in the 4-lane sunshine. Should there be such spirit of competition amongst the landowners to take undue advantage on the project, the question will finally arise as to whether importance be given to road project or to pay compensation by the Union Ministry. This factor will too impede the progress of the work.
The question is therefore whether the 4-lane Dimapur-Kohima road will become a reality or will it be left abandon like the 4 nos. of 2-lane roads. Because of our greed, because of our casualness and irresponsibility, if we fail to complete this project successfully this time, it may never come in near future. The project deserves to have the attention of all the right thinking citizens.
