Wokha DPDB reviews Etsutchukha crisis, hospital upgrade and launches Citizens SEWA Chatbot.
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DIMAPUR — The monthly meeting of the Wokha District Planning and Development Board (DPDB) was held at the Deputy Commissioner’s conference hall on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner and Vice Chairman DPDB, Vineet Kumar.
MLA and Chairman of the Bhandari Subdivision Planning and Development Board, Achumbemo Kikon, along with officers and heads of departments from across the district, attended the meeting, according to a DIPR report.
The meeting began with a review of the previous month’s agendas before moving on to detailed discussions on key issues and new initiatives.
One of the major issues deliberated upon was the alarming drying up of Etsutchukha, the only perennial water source in the heart of Wokha town.
Officials from the PHED, Forest department, and the Wokha Town Council (WTC) presented their assessments, identifying borewell drilling around the pond as a major cause of depletion.
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The WTC has already imposed a ban on drilling new borewells and deepening existing ones.
Taking serious note of the matter, Kikon suggested immediate revival measures, including plantation drives in Mount Tiyi. He urged the Forest department to take responsibility for afforestation and proposed that each town councillor nurture at least 20 trees to ensure meaningful results.
Kikon also requested the Nagaland Ground Water Board to extend assistance and interventions for reviving the water source, while calling for stricter regulation of unregulated groundwater extraction within the town area.
The meeting further passed a resolution for the construction of a new district hospital, with plans to upgrade it into an urban hospital and include a nursing college.
Medical Superintendent, Wokha, Dr. N. Mhonchan Kithan, highlighted the historical background of the hospital, stating that it began as a four-bedded facility in 1876 under the Civil Surgeon, Mokokchung, and was upgraded to a 50-bedded hospital in 1969. However, he noted that facilities remain inadequate, with overcrowding during peak seasons and a lack of staff quarters.
He also pointed out that encroachment has reduced the hospital’s land area from 50–60 acres to just 6–7 acres, further compounding the challenges faced by the institution.
Kikon additionally raised concerns over geotagging and mapping discrepancies that reportedly show several Lotha villages under Assam, stressing the seriousness of the issue and its potential impact on census operations.
The meeting also discussed measures to minimise human-elephant conflict, with both the mapping issue and the mitigation of human-elephant conflict adopted as resolutions during the session.
Another highlight was the launch of the AI-powered Citizens SEWA Chatbot, a multi-channel digital interface serving as a single gateway to district government services.
Designed to simplify governance, the chatbot offers information services, emergency support, grievance redressal, and access to over 43 government programmes including CMMFI, PM Vishwakarma, and PM-KISAN.
It also provides location-based services for PHCs, Anganwadis, and BLO information.
“Wokha is set to become Nagaland’s pioneering model for digital governance under Phase-II expansion,” it stated.
District Programme Officer, District AIDS Prevention and Control Unit Wokha, Lichumo Odyuo, reported that detection rates have risen to 26% compared to 24% in previous years.
Pamphlets on “Drug abuse in the workplace” were distributed. Officials from the Economics & Statistics department delivered a departmental presentation highlighting key data and initiatives.
“The February DPDB meeting reflected Wokha’s commitment to addressing critical issues such as water scarcity, healthcare infrastructure, boundary mapping, and wildlife conflict mitigation, while also embracing digital innovation to make governance more accessible to citizens,” the report added.