Morung File Photo
Akangchila Longchar
Morung Express News
For the 12th time, the Nagaland Legislative Assembly has met; yet, there is a long way to go. Though we hope the elected MLAs will go far with useful legislations, the roads they take to go there might prove more disabling than enabling.
2012 had unofficially been The Year of Roads. After much kitchen and bar talk on how the roads in Nagaland are not even worthy of being called roads, serious public discussions on the issue were held. Mission Potholes is the best example. Members of Facebook forum ‘The Naga Blog’ initiated an act where they took to the streets of Dimapur, Kohima, Mokokchung, Zunheboto, Tseminyu, Peren, Tuensang, Mon and Wokha planting paddy fields and fishing on potholed roads of Nagaland. Also, a show “Trends of Nagaland” on news channel Doordarshan Northeast held live panel talks on ‘conditions of roads in Nagaland’.
The Governor of Nagaland had previously also made an appeal to Minister for Work and Housing and Roads and Bridges to give priority to the road condition. While making a visit to Dimapur he was appalled at the road conditions of the “commercial hub” of Nagaland.
One of the main objectives of Mission Potholes was to capture the attention of authorities. Alo Wanth, a musician and one of the pioneers of Mission Potholes, when queried on whether the mission managed to touch its objective, replied, “Yes it did...but it did not affect them (the authorities) much, because most of them are used to traveling in imported cars. And our people don’t use privileges to voice our right. We are complacent and compromised.”
It is a sensitive topic for Alo. When asked his opinion on the state of roads, he answered, “Do we have roads in Nagaland? I think we should check out what roads look and feel like in our neighboring state, Assam. Our Ministers make holiday trips around the world but they don’t see the necessity of developing our state”.
All he has left to say is “Do away with potholes and give us a road that lasts more than a week”.
John Yengkom, a freelance journalist, opined that the condition of Nagaland roads is the poorest in North East India. To bring about change, he suggests, “Let there be no contractor under/through political backup. Second, public be aware enough to care for their own roads under their respective areas with good town/area planning by public administration, etc.”
From the newly formed Government, he said he expects good youth policies from which good roads, employment, etc. can be carried out through youth empowerment.
Kumjimong Yimchunger, Sky Group co-founder and Sky Entertainment (Chief Marketing Officer), agrees with John on the condition of roads saying that most of the roads are full of potholes, dust, boulders and the roads too narrow. “Though we can see manning of roads from time to time, sadly this doesn’t last even a month due to poor quality of workmanship. Due to bad road condition we also see lots of road accidents, and traffic jams are most common,” he said. He suggests few ways to tackle this issue: invest more, get the best quality work done and work should be done only at night when traffic is less. Build proper drainage system on the road side and, “Let the best contractor get the job; there should not be any political interference”.
Another citizen had this to say, “Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura…even Sikkim...they have good roads. There may be pilferage here and there, but minuscule compared to visible quality works done in these states. A big factor is the vocal and active civil society. They don’t spare public leaders and won’t bat an eyelid in taking the government to court for non-performance. Something which we could well emulate constructively.”
Another comments, “I’m told that ‘Roads and Bridges’ is the most lucrative Department to be in; the amount of money you can pocket per KM is mind boggling, no wonder contracts are given to people who are connected on a Kilometre basis.”
Aienla Longchar, a resident of Lengrijan Colony in Dimapur has an anecdote to share: When Lengrijan road was being repaired after so many years, a tenant of mine looking out from his pan-shop happened to notice the laborers were not doing it properly. Since he was not satisfied with the work that was going on he called out to one of the laborer and told him, “Oh bhai, ulop toh mosto pera bonabhi na.” Then the laborer replied back saying, “Aya dada! opai nai ho, contractor saab pera kua-Kala Hoiley Hoishey.”
The newly inducted Minister for Roads and Bridges, Kuzholuzo Nienu, has called on his team for better roads and quality work in the State. Nienu bravely stated that he is ‘ready to sleep on the road side to supervise work to make sure of quality’. Is this the herald of better roads to come?
