DIMAPUR— The Naga People’s Front (NPF) has expressed anguish over the tragic rockslide on Tuesday evening that killed two people and injured three others after huge boulders hit the vehicles they were travelling in near Chathe Bridge in Chümoukedima along the Kohima-Dimapur 4-lane National Highway.
Wondering whom to blame for such tragedy and who should take the responsibility, the NPF said “this tragic incident maybe the beginning and such incident may occur if the concerned authority does not immediately find its remedy not only to protect human lives but also our environment”.
“It was learned that, the Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB) had written and warned the NHIDCL a couple of times over the safety measures and the destructive environment effects that caused rockslides and dumping of debris into the river,” read the party’s press communiqué.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]Reminding that the NPCB had even highlighted a rockslide that damaged four vehicles and seriously injured its occupants at the same stretch of road in 2021, the party claimed the NHIDCL had “paid less heed” to the safety of human lives, because of which some precious lives had been lost.
Meanwhile, the NPF lauded the initiative taken by the chief minister of Nagaland and extending an ex-gratia of INR 4 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased. It also requested the state government to immediately initiate proper investigation into the incident and penalize “all the erring companies, officials and contractors”.
The party also expressed condolences to all the bereaved family members and prayed for speedy recovery to all the injured persons.