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Members of the Dimapur District Truck Drivers’ Welfare Trade Union work on a patch of road in Dimapur on Wednesday.[/caption]
EMN
Dimapur, October 14
In highly-developed Nagaland, roads continue to touch the lives of citizens and vehicles alike–too literally. Years and years of neglect have reduced to the roads in Nagaland to nothing more than virtual river beds and instead of the Nagaland government or the developmental agencies, it is the common people, and their community organizations that try to do whatever they can to keep the road useable.
Now, it is trucks–one of the transports hit hardest by the craterous roads–that have joined the fray to keep the roads usable at the very least.On Wednesday, October 14, members of the Dimapur District Truck Drivers’ Welfare Trade Union (DDTDWTU) undertook a voluntary community service by fiilling patches of the horrendous stretch of the national highway along Purana Bazar and Nagarjan.
“Volunteered by truck drivers of Dimapur district, the social work was conducted in full swing under the supervision of DDTDWTU officials. Volunteers filled the pot-holes and water logged portions of the roads with sand gravels transported by trucks and dumpers from the riverbeds,” the organizers said in a press release on Wednesday.
According the union, the work was conducted “as per the resolution of the union to extend community service whenever possible and as and when required.”
‘Worsening condition of roads is causing unease to one and all and therefore all should come forward to render such services which are the need of the hour,’ the group said.
The union has thanked owners and drivers of trucks, dumpers and excavators for providing the machineries and vehicles free to help in the day’s work which included excavation and transporting sand and gravel to the work site.
Truckers ask government to do something
The Dimapur District Truck Drivers’ Welfare Trade Union has urged the district administration to provide “basic requirements of the truck drivers” plying within the district.
In a memorandum to the deputy commissioner of Dimapur, the union urged the former to relax the ‘No entry’ at Chumukedima from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The union also appealed to provide “basic sanitation facilities such as toilet and bathroom with running water, rest room with boarding facility, public information system and office, cafeteria and emergency medical facility.”
The group has sought “separate parking space unlike the existing roadside parking of truck as it endanger the life of other commuters and to detail security for the safety of the drivers from unwanted elements.”
Further, the union appealed to the district administration to allocate ‘specific fund annually to assist the drivers in times of emergency.’ They informed that the union had ‘resolved to procure Recovery van and Ambulance exclusively for the truck driver to cater to the need of the drivers in times of emergency and accident for which it had decided to undertake collection of voluntary welfare fund among the members. It however, stated that the same was misinterpreted by the law enforcing agencies.’
The representation appended by its president Kaiho Zhimo and the general secretary, Suren Atobo, stated that the union had been functioning ‘in accordance with the provision and guidelines laid down by the authority concerned and also actively assisting the district administration as and when required. In order to ensure well being of the driver, it, therefore, appealed to communicate to the union to avoid misunderstanding in the near future.’