Unlike in previous years during monsoon season, presently commuters between Dimapur and Kohima have to cope not only with deplorable road conditions, but also with inadequate public transport facilities.
There is huge rush of passengers seeking tickets at ticket counters especially on Saturdays.
It was seen that many taxis plying between Kohima and Dimapur arrived very late due to road conditions, so not enough taxis were available.
According to a taxi operator, the heavy rush was due to this problem. Students returning from vacations and proceeding to Kohima were also the hardest hit.
There are approximately 150 to 170 taxis plying in the route, besides 12 buses.
Due to heavy rains, a stretch of NH-29 near the old KMC dumping site sank nearly two metres on July 4. This compelled authorities to divert vehicles from Dimapur to Kohima via Jotsoma bypass.
Officials of Nagaland State Transport (NST), Dimapur station, informed Nagaland Post that 12 buses were plying between the two towns – seven from Dimapur and five from Kohima. The price of a ticket was Rs 100.
The high volume of passengers far outstripped the availability of buses that were plying along the route.
An official of the NST said the only solution was to deploy additional buses.
NST buses have different seating capacities – from maximum 40 to minimum 27 seats.
There are about 11 to 15 40-seat buses that not only provide services on Dimapur-Kohima route, but also to other district sub-stations.