Kohima Village Council (KVC) has expressed surprise that a portion of the much-anticipated four-lane highway between Dimapur and Kohima (NH-39) had reportedly been excluded by National Highways & Infrastructural Development Corporation (NHIDCL) and Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH).
In a statement issued by its chairman Dr Neiphi Kire and secretary Zeneizo Rutsa, the council said it had come to its knowledge that the Kohima bypass road would now be two lane only, adding that NHIDCL had accordingly decided to develop the bypass road to two lane and right of way (ROW) would be 30 metres instead of the original 60 metres. It said the road would be four-lane beyond Kohima towards Imphal.
Mentioning that it was beyond its comprehension as to why MoRTH had resorted to such a move that could only be seen as “discriminatory”, KVC strongly condemned it.
Pointing out that though the present four-laning work was scheduled to be completed within three years but was still far from completion as NHIDCL did not work during rainy season, the council said it appeared that the corporation did not work during dry season either.
It demanded that the government must take serious action against contractor Maytas-Gayatri, who seemed to be taking the Nagas for a ride, and forced to complete the task immediately without making the public suffer any longer. Such unscrupulous contractors must be blacklisted by the entire Northeast, it added.
KVC said it was baffled as to why an important national road that was envisaged to be an important Asian highway connecting ASEAN countries should be arbitrarily two-lane in some areas and four-lane in others.
Though volume of traffic had been cited as a reason, the council pointed out that the same volume of traffic that would pass through the four-lane Dimapur-Imphal road would pass through Kohima as well. Therefore, the argument posed by NHIDCL appeared to be “illogical and utterly baseless”, it added.
Demanding that the Government of India’s policy of Act East should be fair and non discriminatory in nature, KVC stressed it must embrace the entire Northeast without favour or prejudice.
“Hence, we urge the Government of Nagaland to leave no stone unturned to see that justice is done to this part of the country,” the statement read.
Registering its strongest protest, the council insisted that no part of the four-lane road should be two lane. “It must be four lane or no lane,” it emphasised.