Kohima: It is not often that a state’s chief minister expresses concern in public at an crucial infrastructure project’s completion. Yet, this has happened in Nagaland. The long overdue Kohima-Dimapur four-lane road construction entrusted to the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) missed the 3-year mark of completion. And to make matters worse, even members of the Nagaland legislative Assembly (NLA) led by chief minister Neiphiu Rio seem pessimistic about the project’s completion.
Responding to a starred question raised by legislators Chotisuh Sazo and Kuzholuzo Nienu during the first day of the 12th session of the 13th NLA session on Tuesday, CM Rio said the four-lane road project, which was announced by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in October 2003, is still “struggling after 12 years”, despite it being announced to be the first four-lane road in the northeast region.
Rio believes that the changes in the government (at both central and local levels) kept the project in cold storage. This, along with land acquisition problems and the high demand for land compensation from land owners, delayed the project to no end.
And it is not as if the project has been an “affordable” affair.
As per data, under package-I of the road project, the total work order was Rs 387 crore with the Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor under M/s Ramky – ECI (JV).
While the appointed date of the package was September 16, 2016, the scheduled date of completion was September 15, 2019. However, the EoT (time extension) for package-I was made due to the unprecedented rain, extremely adverse weather conditions and COVID restriction.
The EOT-II for the package was given for unprecedented rain, extremely adverse weather conditions and non-shifting of HT towers.
Likewise, for package-II, the total amount of work order was Rs 339.55 Crore with Ramky-ECI (JV) as the EPC contractor. While the appointed date of the package was August 3, 2016, the scheduled date of completion was August 2, 2019.
The EoT-I for package-II was given for unprecedented rain, extremely adverse weather conditions and COVID restrictions.
As for Package-III, the total amount of the work order was Rs 111.19 crore, and the work was entrusted to M/s Oasis project limited as an EPC contractor. The appointed date of the package was September 1, 2021, and the scheduled completion date was August 31, 2022. EoT for Package-III has not been granted yet to the EPC contractor as per data provided on the floor of the state Assembly.
The PWD (NH) stated that hindrances due to unprecedented/unseasonal adverse weather conditions, shortage of bitumen, landslides, working constraints and COVID restrictions, were reasons for the delay of work for Package-I and package-II.
Bad weather, COVID-19 to blame? Not really
It added that the main reasons for the delay of the work for four years for package-III are due to unprecedented rain, extremely adverse weather conditions, landslides due to frequent rain, working constraints due to disturbance of locals, land issues, hindrances, and COVID 19 restrictions.
To this, Rio said that the answers provided by the department were not convincing and that the department has to be more responsible as the reasons stated were not a way that answers were supposed to be laid.
He also pointed out how local contractors fail to bid for mega road projects as they cannot bid tenders due to criteria that they do not fulfil, unlike big companies that take up most projects in the state.
Rio noted that despite the intervention made by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road, Transport and Highway, and past governors of Nagaland over the years, the road project did not materialise.
But according to Rio, one of the major reasons for the failure of road projects in the state is due to the land holding issue. He added that the Kohima-Bypass road is also “going to fail” as land has not been given to the NHIDCL.
He, therefore, urged Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and contractors to have a meeting with land owners and find a way to bring about developmental activities in the state.
Rio said Article 371 (A), which states that the land belongs to the people, can hold up all development activities, which is not a good sign for the community. In this regard, he said that individual land owners should be convinced not to prevent developmental activities from taking place.
Time for all to take to the streets: Neiba Kronu
Minister for Planning and coordination, land revenue and parliamentary affairs, Neiba kronu, said that it is time for legislators and the people to take to the street to voice out the non-completion of the work.
Giving an update on the work progress, Kronu said that Package-I which starts from Dimapur has achieved 96.76% and 97.28% for Package-II. However, the work progress for Package-III near Kohima achieved 72.72% before the previous contractor Gayatri projects Limited (GPL) was terminated.
Although various reasons were given for the delay of the work, he questioned why the work progress of Package-III could not be achieved while the other two were achieved.
With the work allotted to Oasis Projects Limited since September 1, 2021, he said that the progress made is 28.06%. But the contractor has abandoned the project, he said, and so the NHIDCL is scheduled for a meeting in Delhi on Tuesday, coinciding with the state Assembly session.
In the meantime, construction is going on and the maintenance and repair work has been allotted to T Tachu and co with an awarded cost of Rs 8.21 crore on August 29, 2022. So far, the work progress is 5%, he added.
Having presented the data, Kronu said that it is time for all to go to the street and not allow the NHIDCL or others to continuously “harass” or “badly” treat the people of Nagaland.
Kronu added that it is time to collectively monitor the progress of the work. He informed that the Planning Department has also set up a monitoring cell to monitor work under Central schemes. Making a mention of the bad condition of the two-lane road connecting Kohima with Mao in Manipur, he said that such issues must seriously be taken up.
Meanwhile, in response to the starred question, it was also mentioned that the EPC contractors in coordination with the district administrations are responsible for the maintenance of vehicular traffic while the roads are under construction.
It also stated that no memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between the government of Nagaland and the NHIDCL for maintenance of the existing road till the completion of the four-lane road.
The road is maintained by a maintenance contractor at the risk and cost of the EPC contractor as per the provisions of a contract agreement. The EPC contractor is responsible for the maintenance of the existing road, it added.
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