TR Zeliang, the deputy chief minister of Nagaland and the minister in charge of national highways, has underlined how important adequate road connection is to the state’s overall development. Zeliang talked about a number of topics pertaining to ongoing highway developments in Nagaland during a review meeting with the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) on Tuesday. Fifteen of the 19 major difficulties that were identified have to do with land acquisition.
In response to complaints that landowners were denying contractors access even after being paid, Zeliang ordered district officials to send out a final notice for building evacuation and self-demolition. He gave the administration permission to take the required steps to clear the Right of Way (RoW) for building if the notification is disregarded. He emphasized that advancement should not be impeded by a small number of special interests at the expense of the general populace. Additionally, the deputy CM directed district authorities to submit an action-taken report by February after resolving all outstanding land acquisition issues.
The work done to safeguard the slopes on the four-lane road between Dimapur and Kohima did not satisfy Deputy CM Zeliang. He discovered that the Right of Way (RoW) records had problems. According to the contractor, M/s Maccaferri, NHIDCL lacked documentation of the RoW that was given in 2013–14. Since NHAI was in charge of the land acquisition at the time, Zeliang requested that NHIDCL collaborate with NHAI to locate the records. The deputy commissioners of Chumukedima, Phek, and Meluri, ADC Jalukie from the DC Peren office, a revenue officer from the DC Kohima office, and NHIDCL Executive Director (P) Kohima attended the meeting.
