It can be said without a doubt that almost all roads in Nagaland are dilapidated. According to the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways’ latest publication, “Basic Road Statistics in India 2018-19,” Nagaland has a total of 37,871 km of roads, of which only 18,584 km are surfaced. Which means just about half of the state’s roads are surfaced. Technically, roads that have a firm, smooth surface made of bituminous top (BT), cement concrete (CC) or Water Bound Macadam (WBM) are called surfaced roads. The total length of roads in Mokokchung district was not readily available but it can be safely stated that our roads are definitely not the best ones in the state, not to mention the country.
The ongoing strike by the truck drivers who are refusing to enter Nagaland through the NH 702D is a glaring example of just what is wrong with our roads. Even in Mokokchung town, we know that 4 youth organizations have jointly submitted a memorandum to the district administration demanding immediate repair of the Hospital Road. As reported often, there are several localities in the town repairing the roads on their own. And then there are important roads that have been perennially neglected, like the Mangkolemba road or the Jangpetkong road. In fact, a group of church workers are currently undertaking the task of repairing the Jangpetkong road at this time. All of these issues take us to the conclusion that building a road is not the end and that maintaining the roads built is equally important.
There are engineers among us who should be able to better explain why our roads are as bad as they are. It is not that the government is not funding road projects at all. In fact, there are several road building and paving projects ongoing in Mokokchung district. It’s just that the roads don’t even last a monsoon season, as if they were made so poor on purpose. Or, are they? The engineers who oversee road development works have a lot of explaining to do – to the people, to their children and to their conscience. The same goes with the contractors. And politicians. Our roads are filled with mud in the summer and dust in the winter. Travel is slow, inconvenient and expensive. Without delving into the question on the importance of good roads, it is now time for the people to find a way to address the problem of poor roads.
Protests, strikes, agitations, litigations and volunteering are all necessary but there is something that is still lacking. Demand for good roads must become a people’s movement. We are already doing so in small pockets in our respective areas. It is just that there is no unified front of the aggrieved people. There has to be a platform through which the issues can be magnified to mount more pressure on the government. Advocates for good roads from all parts of the district forging a coalition to claim our rights, to prove that we deserve better roads, is what we lack as of today – a good roads movement.