Speakers at a Nagaland Climate Action Forum dialogue warned that unplanned growth and absence of byelaws are fuelling recurring disasters in Dimapur.
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DIMAPUR — Unplanned township development, flawed land-holding practices and the absence of construction byelaws are driving recurring disasters in Dimapur, various speakers warned on Wednesday, calling for urgent measures to mitigate man-made disasters.
These views were expressed during a multi-stakeholder dialogue of the Nagaland Climate Action Forum (NCAF) 2026, held at Hotel Saramati here on Wednesday, on the theme ‘From heat to action: Rethinking urban resilience in Dimapur.’
Delivering the keynote address, Tarachu Fithu, Director of Urban Development, underscored the arduous task of managing rapid urbanisation, noting that Nagaland records one of the highest urban growth rates in the region.
He attributed urban flooding primarily to construction in low-lying areas, filling up of natural ponds, land encroachment and garbage dumping in drainage systems.
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He informed that authorities have identified 23 locations within Dimapur town where natural drainages have been encroached upon, narrowing water flow passages and causing flooding during the monsoon.
Fithu stressed the need for concerted efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change, stating that its effects cut across social and economic divides.
In his welcome address, Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC) CEO Thungchanbemo Tungoe highlighted the extreme weather conditions experienced in recent times and called upon stakeholders to intensify public sensitisation on climate change.
Dr. Pangjung Pongen from UNICEF India highlighted the organisation’s climate-related interventions, while Boka K Rochill, a policy analyst and member of the National Youth Climate Consortium (NYCC), made a presentation on the ‘Greening Dimapur Project.’
This was followed by the launch of a working white paper titled ‘From heat to action: Rethinking urban resilience in Dimapur.’
The white paper highlighted that rapid urbanisation, unplanned spatial expansion and declining ecological buffers, combined with rising temperatures, have produced an increasingly visible yet institutionally under-recognised risk—urban heat stress.
It stated that heat stress has emerged as a direct threat to public health, informal livelihoods, urban liveability and infrastructure resilience, warranting urgent policy attention.
According to the paper, heat hotspots are consistently observed across dense commercial corridors, informal marketplaces and rapidly transforming peri-urban areas.
These patterns were linked to surface hardening, loss of vegetation and fragmented land-use regulation, reflecting broader governance challenges rather than isolated climatic variability.
It further pointed out that urban heat stress remains inadequately recognised within disaster risk governance, urban planning frameworks and statutory development controls in Nagaland, despite mounting evidence.
Recommendations
Recognition of urban heat stress as a district- or state-specific disaster under the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority (NSDMA).
Activation of the State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF)—including the 20% mitigation allocation—to implement priority heat action plans under a comprehensive climate action plan for Dimapur.
Mainstreaming heat-responsive development control regulations within the ‘Dimapur Master Plan’ to embed climate resilience into future urban growth.
Formal endorsement of the ‘Greening Dimapur Project’as a district-level climate resilience framework to guide multi-scalar convergence and investment.
Strengthening municipal and district coordination mechanisms to protect vulnerable populations, particularly informal workers and heat-exposed communities.
Positioning heat mitigation as a preventive public health and infrastructure investment to enable access to external climate adaptation and resilience financing.
The panel discussion featured LH Thangi Mannen, Director of Earth Alliance Nagaland; Tarachu Fithu, Director of Urban Development; Imlijungla Lemtur, EAC Dimapur; Temjenlemla, State Project Coordinator, SEWA; Inaka Awomi from NSDMA; and Thungchanbemo Tungoe, CEO of DMC.