A hazardous highway

Another life was lost on the four-lane NH-29 early Friday morning, when a dumper truck en route to Dimapur from Medziphema was struck by a rockfall at Pagla Pahar, under Chümoukedima. This latest fatality adds to a growing list of casualties on this stretch of road-an artery meant to ease travel and support development, but which has instead become a recurring site of tragedy. Since the opening of this highway stretch to traffic, rockfalls have claimed multiple lives. On July 4, 2024, a Bolero vehicle was hit by a massive rock that fell from a steep cliff, injuring four passengers. That incident mirrored another, eerily similar, tragedy on the same date in 2023 near the old Chümoukedima check gate, where two individuals were killed and several others seriously injured. These are not isolated accidents-they are repeated failures in ensuring basic road safety. While such incidents are often dismissed as accidents or natural calamities, the term ‘rockfall’ fails to capture the avoidable nature of the danger. These events are symptomatic of deeper negligence. In July 2023, the Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB) issued repeated warnings to the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) against the use of explosives on this stretch. The NHIDCL, however, ignored directives to adopt proper safety measures. The NPCB had cited the reckless use of dynamite for rock blasting-prohibited under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986-as a major contributor to environmental instability and risk to human life. Blasting activities carried out without sufficient precaution have only made the already steep and rocky terrain more vulnerable to landslides and rockfalls. The consequences are borne not by the contractors or authorities, but by ordinary travelers-those who drive this road daily, unaware of when the next tragedy might strike. In the face of such recurring loss of life and the apparent disregard for safety, the demand for accountability has never been more urgent. Road completion delays, while frustrating, pale in comparison to the preventable deaths that have occurred due to poor planning and oversight. The safety of citizens should not be a secondary concern. Adding to the public frustration is the prolonged delay in completing the highway itself. Construction, which began in 2015 under NHIDCL, was initially scheduled to be completed by 2018. Yet the deadline has been extended multiple times-2019, 2021, 2022, and then to 2023. A new completion target was set for March 2024. That deadline too has come and gone. Now, more than a year later, the project appears far from finished. For most of the stretch, the 4-lane highway till Piphema, moving vehicles are diverted to either of the lanes due to ongoing work and most times without visible signage to warn vehicles on either side. This has also caused mishaps and further causing serious concerns of road safety. The instability of the road’s rocky flanks poses a persistent threat, one that requires immediate intervention. The state government has to ensure that NHIDCL is made accountable. Lives continue to be lost, and yet the response remains inadequate. This is not just a matter of missed deadlines-it is a crisis of responsibility.