Mokokchung, September 15 (MTNews): The Central Nagaland Students’ Association (CNSA) visited Mokokchung and Wokha districts on 12 and 13 September 2022, following which it urged the Government to pay attention to the needs of the people and called for restoration of Tssori-Champang ONGC and Tuli Railway Station.
“The hue and cry of the people needs to be addressed and heard. Although the restoration of Tssori-Champang ONGC and Tuli Railway Station will help in generating revenue, provide employment and help the state government in many aspects, the government is turning a deaf ear and neglecting it for too long,” CNSA said in a press release issued on Thursday.
CNSA said that numerous appeals have been made by different organizations many times but no positive results have come up till date, and expressed hope that the government will “stop turning its head away from such issues and needs of the people and start working on turning our resources into revenues.”
The CSNA President, R Sunep Pongen and Vice President, Lipemo M Tsopoe, said in the press release that, during the visit, the CNSA had a joint meeting with the Champang Village Council, Champang Students’ Union and Lower Lotha Range Students’ Union on September 12, where they highlighted the issues regarding Tssori-Champang ONGC located at Champang and Tssori villages.
According to Champang VC Chairman, Nzanbemo, there are currently 33 oil rigs in the area, of which 28 are actively producing oil, CSNA informed. The Champang Oil Field was established years ago.
“As a result of the ongoing drilling and oil extraction operations in the neighbouring state, he further stated that the oil rigs situated in the border region are becoming dormant and depleting,” CNSA reported Champang VC Chairman as saying.
“In order to prevent our resources from being drained by someone else, the village council and the student leaders urged the government of Nagaland to act quickly while also respecting the rights of the people,” the CSNA added.
Meanwhile, the Association also visited Tuli Railway Station and had a joint meeting with the Tsudikong Town Council, Langpangkong Tsukong Mungdang and Langpangkong Students’ Conference.
Discussions about re-establishing passenger train service and operating the Tuli Railway Station were discussed recognizing that the functioning of the railway station would benefit not only the residents of Mokokchung district but also neighbouring districts, CNSA said.
“Despite the fact that a passenger train operated here for three months in 2000–2001, according to the chairman of the Tsudikong town council, P. Meren Jamir, the Tuli Railway Station has been abandoned and ignored even by the government for 37 years,” CNSA reported. Since then, it said, there has been no word from the government about efforts to maintain or revive the station.
“They discussed how the state of Nagaland will gain from the reintroduction of the railway line and urged the government to look into renovating the station’s deteriorated status as soon as possible. Since the station and train infrastructure are already in place and coal and stone chips are occasionally transported to Assam using the same rail track, the government must make efforts to revive the Tuli Railway Station,” CNSA also reported.