DIMAPUR, April 24 (MExN): The Nagaland Foothills Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) has objected to its exclusion from an upcoming consultative meeting convened by the State Government on April 30, where the “first and priority agenda” will be the ongoing construction and progress of the Foothills Road Project. In a statement issued on April 24, the committee expressed dismay that it was left out of the stakeholders’ list, despite being at the center of the project’s inception and execution.
“What is the real agenda to deliberate on the issue of the Foothills Road without the presence of the Committee?” the NFHRCC asked. It cautioned that the State Government “will be answerable if the issue went haywire,” adding, “the NFHRCC shall not remain a silent spectator for betraying the dream of the Nagaland Peoples’ Road.”
Calling the project a symbol of inclusive unity, the committee reiterated that its mission remains focused on “providing a dignified connectivity road to the people of Nagaland,” even as it continues to “strengthen the hands of the concerned Department on transparency, fair, inclusive and judicious distribution of funds.” The NFHRCC further stated that no changes in the project’s original alignment, as adopted in 2013, would be tolerated “except in some inevitable and justifiable circumstances.”
Reacting to what it described as “unjustified debate triggered off late by a few vested interested people,” the NFHRCC said the discourse was “unfortunate and self-explanatory,” calling it “extremely distasteful for a just society.” The committee appealed to the conscience of the Naga public: “Let every intellect Naga of all walks of life, social strata review, analyze and decide on the self-induced contentious issue… lend a befitting support to the noble cause, at least for the sake of our younger generations to come.”
The NFHRCC’s statement comes amid growing controversy over alleged interference by certain contractor firms “power backed by a few Legislators,” which the committee said amounts to a “sheer violation of 2013 agreements/understanding between the State Government, the Department concerned and the Committee.”
The Foothills Road Project, rechristened as the Trans Nagaland Expressway, has been a decades-long effort aimed at connecting Tizit in Mon district to Khelma in Peren district, covering a stretch of approximately 395 kilometers. Often referred to as the “Naga Historic Survival Road,” the project is seen by many as a corrective to decades of economic and infrastructural neglect in Nagaland’s foothill regions.
The initiative’s modern momentum began in 2013, spearheaded by civil society organizations under the aegis of the NFHRCC and supported by ten Naga tribal apex bodies. Landowners along the alignment voluntarily gave up land without compensation, and non-state actors agreed to exempt the road from taxation. The Government of Nagaland authorized the NFHRCC to select contractors and execute roadwork on credit until public funding could be secured.
In 2023-24, the Government secured Rs 148.5 crore under the SASCI soft loan scheme for the first phase of construction. However, the committee has expressed concern that the vision is being derailed by political and commercial interference. “Did they really see the NFHRCC as a hindrance to the 2nd / 3rd phase budget which may possibly go up to the tune of 800-1000 crore rupees?” the statement questioned.
