The Nagaland Foothills Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) has accepted the report of its three-member search committee headed by convener Chingden Konyak, member secretary Anilo Rengma and member Renthungo Kikon, and elected its new team of office-bearers at an emergency meeting held here on May 9.
Accordingly, the meeting resolved to select Supu Jamir as convener, K Himahito Chishi as co-convener Chenithung Humtsoe as general secretary, Yanger Angh as assistant general secretary Iteichu Zeliang as publicity & information secretary and K Mar Lemtur as finance secretary, Changpang Area Committee on Foothills Road Project media cell stated.
The meeting also resolved to warmly welcome the two Nagaland tribal communities to the Changpang Area Committee on Foothills Road Project fraternity, namely the Tikhir Naga and indigenous Nagaland Garo communities.
Reaffirming that the Foothills Road project was being conceptualised by it in 2013, the committee decided to continue to advocate the historical Nagaland road to successive state governments and strengthen the hands of the department concerned with a mission and vision for a transparent, inclusive and quality assurance of work, as a stakeholder and watchdog for the people vis-à-vis the Foothills Road project (Trans Nagaland Expressway) from Tizit to Khelma.
The meeting declared that any capricious deviation from the original concept and alignment of the peoples’ road from any quarter would be considered “betrayal” and would not be tolerated.
Further, the meeting declared that the decision taken at a joint consultative meeting of Changpang Area Committee on Foothills Road Project, Changpang Area Committee on Foothills Road Project (CAFHRCC), and Bhandari and Changpang circles’ aggrieved villages, including Sumi villages, Baghty division (Wokha district), held at Dimapur that the definition of the Foothills Road project original alignments decided in 2013 by NFHRCC and NPWD (R&B) and endorsed by 10 Nagaland tribal hohos would be upheld without any precondition.
The committee reiterated its fullest cooperation to the Lotha Hoho’s resolution, the June 4, 2024 letter on Nagaland Foothills road alignments to the NPWD (R&B) chief engineer and a joint survey conducted on minor need-based re-alignment by the department, NFHRCC and CAFHRCC’s report of September 11, 2024.
The aggrieved villages of Bhandari and Changpang circles, including the Sumi villages under Baghty division, assured their unflagging support to the Nagaland Foothills Road Coordination Committee which had been advocating to the state government for an inclusive Nagaland people’s road since 2013 till the Foothills Road project became a reality.