NH (No Hurry) 29

After almost two decades, beginning with the then UPA and post-2014 under BJP governments, the focus was to build world class expressways connecting every state and capital city in India while in the north east these roads were to be linked with South East Asian countries. Since 2014 most states have successfully completed the road projects. However, Nagaland is still struggling with promises, reschedules and excuses. Despite nearly nine years of construction, the much-anticipated four-lane highway remains incomplete. As the project lingers, so do the safety risks, resulting in a string of accidents and mishaps, some of them fatal. Such is the state of affairs with the 4-lane highway along NH 29 from Dimapur (Purana Bazar) to Kohima. Due to the perennial delays and controversies, the construction of four-lane on national highway 29 has been discussed many times in the state assembly. Even in the recent assembly session, NPF legislator Achumbemo Kikon spared no effort to highlight the total mess that has plagued the project. The construction of the 4-lane national highway 29 is besotted with delays and controversies which have cast a shadow over the project. The construction work was originally scheduled to have been completed by September 2019. The deadline was extended to March 31, 2021, as cited by the Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Nitin Gadkari in reply to a question in Lok Sabha. The road project began in 2016 and despite schedule for completion being extended year by year as if it is mandatory, it is doubtful if the road can even be completed by end of 2025. To see where Nagaland stands vis-à-vis other states, it may be pointed out that most four-lane projects in other states such as Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh have either met their deadline or did not allow the projects to be inordinately delayed as in the case with Nagaland. In Meghalaya the four-lane work between Guwahati-Shillong was completed in record time in 2015. The construction work began in 2013 and was to be completed by 2016.As rightly pointed out in the Lok Sabha by an MP, that portions of road (NH 29) that are completed have already developed potholes, which only shows very poor workmanship undertaken by sub-contractors. Another significant concern is the poor quality of materials and workmanship of roads that are hastily constructed and often deteriorate quickly, leading to frequent repairs and, ultimately, a cycle of continuous disruption for the public. Added to the NH 29, has been the tragedies that have taken away many lives since are a growing concern. These incidents are not mere acts of nature-they reflect an alarming neglect of safety protocols and infrastructure management along NH-29. Repeated warnings to the National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) from district authorities and various organizations about the dangers of rockfalls and landslides have largely gone unheeded. NHIDCL’s failure to implement safety measures, such as those requested by the State Government in April 2024, has only compounded the problem. Moreover, the State Cabinet had raised questions about how a completion certificate was issued for the Dimapur-Kohima Package-II when parts of the project remain incomplete and safety concerns abound. What is being highlighted may seem like a repetition of what had been said many timed in the past but that in itself, proves that the past still haunts the present and could continue in the future.