MOKOKCHUNG, NOVEMBER 19 (MExN): The Mokokchung Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI) has demanded that repair works on the stretch of NH-02 passing through the commercial nerve center of Mokokchung town be completed.
In a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner Mokokchung, the MCCI noted that repair works on this particular stretch has been left half-done by those who were tasked for the job, and is causing much inconvenience to the public in general and the business owners in particular.
“The peril of health hazards posed by the dust pollution emitted by the abandoned road construction works is coupled by the danger of pedestrian and vehicular accidents. Moreover, the traders and members of the business community who work along the stretch of the route spend more than 10 arduous hours a day precariously exposed to the suffocating dust pollution,” the MCCI said.
It stated that the competent authorities are expected to look into the matter as the health, wellbeing, rights and lives of innocent citizens are at stake here. “It is very unfortunate that the authorities need to be reminded to do what is to be rightfully done,” the MCCI added.
The said repairing works have been left abandoned for almost a year now. This, it said, has forced the traders and the public in general to be exposed to hazardous particulate matter over an extended period of time on a daily basis for almost a year. Apart from causing economic losses and general inconvenience, the MCCI termed the situation as a blatant violation of the constitutional right to life and personal liberty of citizens.
While noting that the contractors had assured the All Ward Union Mokokchung Town (AWUMT) on November 7, 2021 that the construction works would be completed before Christmas, the MCCI however informed that construction works stopped the day after and there has not been any construction activity on the highway since then.
It urged the Mokokchung DC to intervene and ensure that the contractors uphold their assurance to the AWUMT and resume the construction works immediately. If the construction works are not completed within the month of November 2021, the MCCI cautioned that it would seek legal recourse for commensurate compensation or resort to their own course of action.
