The Nagaland Foothills Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) has urged the State Government to proceed with the second phase of the Foothills Road project without waiting for the proposed upgrade of the route to National Highway status under the Trans Nagaland Highway.
In a marathon meeting held on July 25, the committee reaffirmed its support for the government’s proposal to upgrade the existing Foothills Road into a National Highway, a proposal that has been under consideration since 2018. However, it stressed that the ongoing two-lane Foothills Road construction should not be delayed while the proposal is pursued with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH).
The committee appealed to the government to issue work orders for the remaining stretches of the second phase of the project on the strength of the administrative approval secured under the 2024–25 SASCI loan scheme, stating that the working season is approaching and that further delays should be avoided.
The NFHRCC also urged the concerned department not to inaugurate sections of the Foothills Road in phases before the entire stretch is completed, except where completed bridges warrant separate inauguration.
Reiterating a position it said it has maintained since 2013, the committee declared that it would not allow any “warring groups or individuals” to levy taxes on the Foothills Road project under any pretext. It appealed to village councils along the project corridor to monitor construction in close coordination with the concerned department.
The committee further called on the department to provide additional funding for bridge works in the Baghty and Peren divisions, stating that contractors had been compelled to undertake work beyond the scope of the original Detailed Project Report (DPR), which it said appeared to be inadequate.
The resolutions were adopted unanimously during the committee’s meeting.