Staff Reporter | EMN
DIMAPUR, AUGUST 8
THE vulnerability to bandh calls on the road connecting Dimapur to Tizit in Mon district via the Mariani-Amguri road in Assam raised the need for a road within the plains area and boundary of Nagaland
The much flouted Foothill Road from Dimapur to Tizit in Mon was proposed to circumvent the 280 km long road that passes through Mariani- Amguri in Assam and reduce travel time by 30kms.But curiously a “foothill connectivity road “ is now in the anvil. This “connectivity” road is 339 kms in length which is a cool 159 kilometres longer than 280 kilometre existing road via Mariani –Amuguri ,connecting Dimapur to Mon district.
The Nagaland Foothill Road Construction Committee (NFRCC) along with leaders of ten Naga tribes- Ao, Sumi, Lotha, Phom, Konyak, Sangtam, Chang, Khiamiungan, Yimchungru and Rengma- on August 8 resolved to stick to its own version of road mapping in connection with the proposed construction of a connectivity road stretching from Tizit to Dimapur.
The decision was taken here today in a meeting among NFCC members, tribal leaders and officials from the department of Road and Bridges, led by chief engineer, D Mero. The meeting also decided that certain inevitable “modifications” to the Committee’s version of road mapping would be allowed.
The R&B officials had initially proposed another version of alignment cutting across a different route. The meeting however rejected it on the contention that they had refused the same on July 17 last.
Moreover, it contended that the Committee’s version of road mapping “was within the same parameters” of one of the alternate route suggested by the experts from R&B department. In all, the R&B department had listed 8 different routes for the NFRCC as well as state government of Nagaland to choose from.
On their part, the officials from R&B department assured the meeting that the NFRCC’s decision to build the road connectivity through a different route would be conveyed to the “government.”
The route chosen by the NFRCC, and also included in the list of suggestions made by the R&B department, is approximately 339 km long. The proposed road connectivity would start from Tizit-Naginimora-Tuli-Chutikong-Yajang ‘C’-Longtho (Moayimti)-Sumito-Wozhu-Champang-Yimpang-Bhandari-Governor’s Camp (Liphiyang)-Ralan (Old)-Rengmapani-Niuland-Dimapur.
As resolved on Thursday, slight modifications caused by “technical problems” to the proposed road alignment would be allowed. The meeting once again assured to the R&B officials that there would be no demand for land compensation or “taxation” from underground groups.
It however strongly suggested that the state government should take the consent of the NFRCC before issuing tenders in connection with the construction of the road connectivity.
The meeting further underscored that the bridge over Doyang River should be constructed at the earliest and requested the state government to apply proper pressure to the contractors.
Chief Engineer (R&B), D Mero assured the meeting that the department had prioritized the construction of foothill road connectivity and that all possible efforts were on towards this end. He however reasoned that the process involved lot of technical aspects that need to be sorted out and appealed the public to be patient.
Mero was accompanied by Additional Chief Engineer (MKG) Khupi, Additional Chief Engineer (Kohima)Talimeren, Superintendent Engineers Temsu and Narola, and Engineers Longzujang and Meren.
Participants at the meeting failed to indicate the construction costs of the “foothill connectivity road”, which is being justified on grounds that the 250 km “Foothill Road” could take as long as 10 years to be serviceable.
