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Dimapur, Sep. 25 (EMN): The Nagaland House in Mumbai is still stuck in troubled waters even two years after the deputy chief minister, Y Patton, stated that the facility would be made operational “very soon”.
Speaking to Eastern Mirror, Home Commissioner Abhijit Sinha informed that the delay is due to the ‘same issue’ of obtaining coastal regulation zone (CRZ) permission from the Navi Mumbai Corporation by the state government, which was also the case in 2018.
The construction of the Nagaland House located in Vashi of Navi Mumbai was completed in 2010.
The president of the Naga Students’ Union Mumbai, Wungramthing Huileng, expressed disappointment at the state government for not taking up ‘any initiative’ in this regard.
“The Nagaland government should send its state representatives and set up a proper office to function and look after our people in Mumbai,” Huileng told this newspaper.
Mumbai being an expensive city to live in, Huileng shared that many Nagas who come to the city for a short visit, including students coming for admissions, and especially those in need of medical attention, have to suffer ‘as getting a place to stay is too expensive’.
According to reports, Nagaland House Mumbai is spread over 3,491.11 square metre and falls in CRZ-2, which is within 150 metres from the high-tide line of the creek on the seaward side of the existing road.
The facility includes a four-storey building that has an auditorium, two-storey staff-quarters, and a ground structure that would be a utility building.
It may be mentioned that Patton had stated in August 2018 that with the “concerted efforts of the state government”, the CRZ issue was under process, and the government was “pressing hard to sort out at the earliest with its counterpart government and the house will be made operational very soon”.
“It would facilitate the people of Nagaland and bridge the gap between Mumbai and Nagaland…while the state government would give preference to the student community, sick and needy people,” he had stated.
In connection to this, it was also reported during the 2018 Nagaland Legislative Assembly that the Nagaland government was paying INR 5 lakh a month for the upkeep of the state guest house in Mumbai.