Development disaster

The four-laning of the Dimapur–Kohima National Highway was meant to improve connectivity, stimulate economic activity and make travel safer. Yet, along the stretch passing through the fragile hills of Chümoukedima, the project has left behind a disturbing trail of environmental damage. The Chathe River, once a natural watercourse, is increasingly becoming a casualty of construction activity, while the hillsides have been scarred by blasting, reckless excavation and repeated landslides. What was projected as development is now raising serious questions about the cost at which it is being pursued. The time has come for an independent environmental audit and accountability from the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) and its contractors. There can be no argument against building a four-lane highway. However, public infrastructure cannot be built by treating rivers as dumping grounds and hills as expendable obstacles. Complaints about contractors dumping excavated earth, rocks and boulders into the Chathe are not new. As far back as 2019, the Chümoukedima Village Council had raised concerns over pollution of the river and the health and ecological risks posed to communities dependent on it. If these warnings were ignored, the question is why the authorities failed to intervene before the damage became more serious. The consequences of dumping construction debris into a river are far more serious than they may appear. Sedimentation raises the riverbed, reduces its capacity to carry monsoon flows and alters its natural course. Once the channel is obstructed, water seeks alternative routes, increasing the risk of erosion and flooding in areas never meant to bear such pressure. The damage extends beyond the river itself, affecting aquatic life, water quality, groundwater recharge, agriculture and the safety of downstream settlements. The reported alteration of the Chathe’s course should therefore be treated as a serious environmental and hydrological concern, not dismissed as an ordinary construction complication. The hillsides present an equally alarming picture. Blasting and indiscriminate hill cutting can destabilize geological formations that have remained intact for generations. Fractured rock faces allow rainwater to penetrate deeper, weakening slopes and increasing the likelihood of rockfalls and landslides. The recurring incidents along NH-29, including road subsidence and damaged protective structures, suggest that the problem is not merely one of excessive rainfall. Nature may trigger a landslide, but irresponsible construction can create the conditions for it. The Gauhati High Court has already taken cognizance of recurring landslides and safety hazards along the highway, including the Tsiedukhru Range near the Chathe, where a rockfall caused casualties in May 2025. Judicial scrutiny must now be accompanied by a comprehensive environmental investigation. The Nagaland government must constitute an independent expert committee comprising hydrologists, geologists, environmental scientists, engineers and representatives of affected villages. Its mandate should be to establish how much construction debris has entered the river, whether blasting and hill cutting followed approved safety standards, how construction has altered the river’s flow and what cumulative damage has been inflicted on the surrounding ecosystem. It must also identify responsibility and recommend a time-bound restoration plan. NHIDCL cannot be allowed to investigate its own performance and emerge as the sole judge of the damage. If negligence is established, accountability must go beyond routine penalties or departmental explanations. Those responsible should bear the cost of scientific restoration, including debris removal where feasible, river channel rehabilitation, slope stabilization and continuous environmental monitoring. Communities affected by the damage must also be protected and compensated where warranted.