Landslides disrupt normal vehicular movement

Kohima, May 18 (EMN): A good number of vehicles stayed off the road on Thursday as a new traffic regulation was imposed for travellers between Kohima and Dimapur.

Following the heavy landslides, which occurred on National Highway 39 near Peducha village, the Superintendent of Police, Kohima, had imposed a new traffic regulation as contingency measures in order to repair the cut off portion of the highway near Peducha, which was carried away last Sunday.

The busy highway almost came to standstill as vehicular movements were restricted from the stretch between Sechü Zubza and Peducha. Except the convoy of the chief minister’s entourage coming from Dimapur, no vehicles were allowed to pass through the landslide portion today.

As per the new traffic regulation, vehicles heading towards Kohima from Dimapur were diverted from Peducha towards 10th Mile, Tsiesema village.

Vehicles enroute Dimapur were diverted from CRPF camp at Sechü Zubza via Kiruphema, while some took the route via Shalom Bible Seminary in Sechü Zubza to Kiruphema and headed for Peducha.

For travellers heading to Dimapur, some also took the alternative route via Kohima Science College, Jotsoma, Khonoma, Mezoma, Sechüma, Kiruphema and Peducha.

Talking to Eastern Mirror at the site, SDO (Civil) Sechü Zubza, Lanusenla Longkumer Peseyie said the new traffic regulation would only be lifted after the repairing work gets completed. She was positive that a major bulk of the landslide portion would be completed by this evening. However, it might take another two- three days to make the road functional.

At the landslide area, around six to eight excavators belonging to Gayatri Project Ltd have been pushed for the task 24X7. Though police personnel and district administration staff were also present at the site to oversee things, nevertheless, the support and assistance rendered by villagers from Kiruphema and Peducha was also laudable as they have voluntarily stepped out to assist the police personnel, who were on duty at the site and also at the diverting points.

Ever since the landslide occurred on Sunday afternoon, volunteers from Kiruphema Youth Organisation (KYO) have been assisting the traffic personnel.

As majority of the heavy laden trucks were compelled to park on the roadside, ‘this is when double line occurs and leads to heavy traffic jam,’ a KYO volunteer said.

As was seen the previous days for those vehicles which could not make the mounting climb, excavators were made to intervene to push it from behind. This has been the practice for heavy vehicles since day one.

Though maximum excavators and required manpower have been pushed for the task, the road condition will remain to be unstable if rain continues to pour down. Monsoon is yet to arrive, and there is more concern for the road condition as massive earth cutting for the four-lane highway is underway between Dimapur and Kohima.

Some citizens have also expressed their concern with the hope that the two companies will take prevention by clearing up the drains before the monsoon arrives.

Apart from the landslide area near Peducha, some areas along the national highway are also at risk of being carried away if the drains were not cleared on time.

The road diversion has also not gone down very well today as some big buses had to traverse through the narrow roads which resulted to problems one after the other. It was reported that the entry of big buses to the narrow roads added to traffic jam even in villages. Adding to that, the vehicles with low clearance suffered the most due to the deep potholes.

As reported, the road leading to Kiruphema village is in a better condition than the road connecting Peducha with 10th Mile, Tsiesema, which is said to be in a deplorable condition.

The road condition of the highway during the next couple of days remains crucial as the price of commodities could also escalate if at all the heavy laden trucks carrying essential commodities were not allowed to pass through. Though the road diversion has been allowed under the new regulation, it is impossible for the loaded trucks to pass through the narrow village roads.