DIMAPUR, DECEMBER 27 (MExN): The Kohima Village Council (KVC) has expressed resentment that a portion of the much anticipated four lane road from Dimapur to Kohima (NH39) has been excluded by the National Highways & Infrastructural Development Corporation (NHIDCL) and Ministry of Roads Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
A press statement issued by KVC Chairman Dr Neiphi Kire and Secretary Zeneizo Rutsa said it has come to their knowledge that the Kohima Bypass road will be two-lane only. It stated that the NHIDCL has decided to develop the Kohima Bypass road to two-lane and Right of Way (ROW) would be 30 metres instead of the original 60 metres. However, the four-lane would continue after crossing Kohima towards Imphal.
Condemning it, the KVC said it is beyond comprehension as to why the Government of India (GoI) has resorted to such a move which can only be seen as discriminatory.
The KVC said it was perplexed as to why an important national road which is envisaged to be an important Asian highway connecting the ASEAN countries should be arbitrarily two-lane in some areas and four-lane in others.
It also termed as “illogical and utterly baseless” the argument posed by NHIDCL that volume of traffic is one reason for the exclusion of the Kohima Bypass while pointing out that the same volume of traffic that will pass through the four-lane Dimapur and Imphal road will pass through Kohima.
Reasoning that the GoI policy of Act East should be fair and non discriminatory in nature, the KVC said it must embrace the entire North East without favor or prejudice.
Towards this, the KVC has urged the Government of Nagaland to leave no stone unturned to see that justice is done to this part of the country. It also registered its strongest protest in this regard and said “no part of the four-lane road should be two-lane,” adding “It must be four-lane or no lane.”
Furthermore, the KVC said the present four-lane Kohima-Dimapur road under construction, targeted to be completed in 3 years, is still far from completion, because the NHIDCL do not work during rainy season. It also appears that they do not work during dry season either, it added.
Urging the Government to take serious action against the contractor Maytas-Gayatri “who seem to be taking the Nagas for a ride,” the KVC demanded that the company must be forced to complete their task immediately without making the public suffer any longer while adding that such “unscrupulous contractors must be blacklisted by the entire North East.”
