July 4 incident was a natural calamity: NHIDCL Head

July 7, 2023 27 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Dimapur/ Chümoukedima | July 7

Two days after the disastrous incident at the Chümoukedima stretch of the NH 29 on July 4, claiming two lives and injuring three others, a technical team from NHIDCL was flown to Dimapur to undertake a survey at the area on July 6.

The Executive Director of NHIDCL, M Riten Kumar Singh on being questioned by the media at the site claimed that the July 4 incident was a natural calamity and not the fault of their company. “The last earth cutting was done in 2018, after that the rocks were stable so I think this is a natural calamity,” he purported.

The NHIDCL technical team of experts led by Kumar had inspected ‘14 hazardous zones’ within the so-called pakala pahar stretch. In previous news reports, it was highlighted that the government-owned construction company had allegedly ignored the Nagaland Pollution Control Board (NPCB) directives for taking precautionary safety measures on the said stretch.

Moreover, a state government survey jointly undertaken with Chümoukedima district administration, PWD (NH) officials, NHIDCL officials and District Dobashi on March 27, 2023 had warned that the measures taken to mitigate the rock fall (or failure of the same) and very poor slope protection measures at places have a ‘higher probability of becoming a factor that may cause injuries and even death of the commuter.’

On the other hand, Kumar reasoned that, “We have been executing the work based on central IRC guidelines”. This included providing slope protection measures, rock bolting and the like.

But as previously stated, it was reported that the responsible contractor has installed rock barriers that appear more for a ‘namesake.’ The survey further noted that “slope protection and stabilisation happens to be the most critical component of any road project in the hilly area,” but stated with concern that “it appears to be the most neglected part of this road.”

Hitting back at the allegations made against their company, Kumar questioned, “How many roads in Nagaland have got safety features like we have here?”

He also criticised the state government for failing to provide a proper alternative route as the fragility of the pakala pahar stretch was known to everyone. “Now this road has been closed for some time…what is the alternate highway you’re providing? What is the state government doing?” he questioned.

Meanwhile, on day 2 of the alternative traffic arrangement, several goods laden trucks, private vehicles on medical emergencies, military and government vehicles were allowed to pass through the NH-29 stretch from Patkai Bridge.