EMN
DIMAPUR, OCTOBER 21
THE Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Nagaland state has expressed ‘deep concern’ at the deplorable condition of the roads in Nagaland especially in Dimapur and Kohima. The BJP leaders of the State led by its president Dr. M Chuba Ao met with Vinod Kumar, Chief Engineer of Sewak on October 21 in Dimapur and expressed their ‘deep concern’ about the ‘pathetic’ condition of the roads.Some probable factors aiding to the problem were discussed. It includes construction of stone quarries along road without following proper guidelines, lack of proper drainage systems ‘due to the non co-operation by the land owners’ and ‘by opening petrol pumps, hotels and private constructions etc by digging large portion of the land which affect the existing road.
“It is also learnt that, in a year the government of India allocate Rs 1.50 lakhs per km for maintenance of the roads which is adequately sufficient for a small state like Nagaland. However some of the fund meant for maintenance of roads is being utilized for procuring Hume pipes wherever there are quarries, whereas actually it should be borne by the concerned quarry owners. Till now around 40 such cases have been completed and yet another 50 is to be done,” the BJP said in a press release receive here on Monday.
When the BJP leaders queried ‘why for such a long period the roads has not been repaired’, the Sewak engineer is said to have replied that ‘due the rainy season the work could not be initiated’, but assured that re-surfacing of the road from Dimapur to the Airport will commence from first week of November 2013. The road from Dimapur to Mao gate will be completed by March 31, he is quoted by the BJP as saying.
As with the Purana Bazar area, he is said to have ‘lamented that, the main concern is that there is no proper drainage outlet and at the same time non co-operation of the land owners for constructing a drainage’. The BJP has appealed to the landowners to extend cooperation to the authorities in this regard.
