With the onset of the rainy season, it is to be expected that our roads and highways will be severely tested by elements beyond our control. Heavy rains and landslide are therefore not to be unexpected in a hilly state like Nagaland. Also we have the problem of floods especially in the plain areas of the State. Given these physical characteristics of our land, it should be obvious that our roads, bridges and other infrastructure should be build accordingly. Our engineers are already well aware of the basics since they would have learned all this in their engineering schools and colleges. There is therefore no reason why our road should not be able to withstand even the severest test of nature. Nevertheless we do also acknowledge that even the best build roads or other construction can be damaged by natural disasters such as massive earthquake, floods or landslide. Having stated these, it is a matter of concern that many of our roads build at huge cost are breaking down. All of us are aware of the chronic problem of landslide along NH-39 especially near Kohima. Every year we are faced with ‘bad roads’ in some portion of NH-39. The local media has already highlighted several other ‘bad roads’ across the State. In another picture published on the August 26 issue of local papers, even the important Secretariat Road in the State Capital has been eroded by a major landslide. The big question is who is to be blamed for all this? Is it nature? Could it be poor quality construction? Or could it be faulty engineering? The answer may probably lie in all of them. But to solely put the blame on nature would be misleading and wrong.
In the light of the above concerns mentioned, we also welcome the initiative taken to hold a weeklong training programme for engineers of the Nagaland PWD. Definitely such trainings will hopefully remind our engineers about their professional duty and at the same time make them aware about new technology taking place in the field of engineering. Such knowledge will be beneficial for Nagaland’s development. However all of us very well know that quality control in development does not depend only on our engineers or contractors. It has to be mentioned that for too long, those responsible for taking economic development to the grass roots—politicians, bureaucrats and contractors have gained at the expense of public welfare by way of siphoning off funds, incomplete projects and poor quality of implementation. As a result majority of our people continue to remain disconnected from the development process. Simply put: Quality control must begin at the top. This also needs to be corrected.
Since the present government led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio seems to be very conscious of the quality tag, why not undertake an objective assessment of what is wrong with our road construction. This need not be an exercise to fix blame but rather the objective will be to see where the fault lies and accordingly try and improve on them. For instance if the assessment finds that nature is to be blamed, the concerned engineering department/s will have to rework or improve on designs. Similarly if it is because of poor quality materials used and improper construction, then the government can also come out with strict guidelines to rectify them. The concerned authorities must give a serious thought to this suggestion.
