The chief minister after getting a second chance to sit in the top chair on July 19 has finally managed to visit the flood affected areas and the dilapidated bridges around Dimapur district. The announcement for contingencies with regard to the bridges and the road condition is a welcome step but at the same time quite conspicuous that the chief minister is suddenly out of the slumber. Whether the presence of more number of seasoned and senior colleagues and advisors as compared to his earlier team will be talked about at present in every Naga hearth. In retrospection, it is quite disquieting to learn that none of these were anticipated by our lawmakers in the government led by the same chief minister earlier. Not only with modern scientific knowledge even our own Naga traditional knowledge is quite certain of the annual weather pattern in our region. The very reason why the Naga ancestors were able to read the moons without the aid of the Gregorian calendar. Jhum activity starts every year at somewhat the same time, that usually falls sometime in December in the modern calendar and just a couple of months after the last of the harvest have been moved to the granaries in the village. This same column had also mentioned about backup plans for the Dimapur-Kohima highway when the construction started because monsoon is a time to be prepared for all eventualities. The absence of such a plan was evident during the nearly a month long blockade of NH 29. The government instead spent the whole dry season preparing for the controversial elections to the Urban Local Bodies in the state. Instead of discussing matters on the development front and such contingencies the Legislative Assembly was very busy in revocations and invocations of its earlier decisions to ensure that the quickly decided polls to the local bodies were conducted. The rest is history and it was in fact disastrous for the then government. The state machinery was completely engaged in this activity that some very important details seemed to have been missed out. It was only after the collapse of the bridge it surfaced that money was already sanctioned for repairs earlier but probably not conducted due to some serious gamble by a few as sanction for new construction was already in the offing. Unfortunately it led to the loss of lives. The documents from the concerned departments do indicate that there was negligence by the agencies. The disclosure from the chief minister during the survey that the money for the construction of the other bridge over River Dhansiri after dismantling the present crumbling bridge was also news for many. Yes indeed the long precious winter was wasted but as the adage goes better late than never, may our leaders become wiser.
