KOHIMA: The Nagaland Foothill Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) has utterly rejected a letter from the Chief Engineer of Roads & Bridges having a date headlined: October 16, 2024.
The letter said that the department cannot officially place NFHRCC in the allotment of work or a tripartite agreement for the Foothills Road project.
NFHRCC convenor Supu Jamir, co-convenor Hokiye Yepthomi, general secretary W Lemba Chang, and assistant general secretary Chenithung Humtsoe announced that the committee had held its meeting with the tribal organizations in Dimapur on October 18. They all agreed to reject the Chief Engineer's letter.
The committee reiterated its seven-point memorandum dated May 8, 2024. This called for the tripartite agreement between the department, contractors, and the NFHRCC to ensure that project quality would not be compromised under any circumstance.
Besides, NFHRCC also decided to write to the authority requesting that the current tendering process for the Foothills Road construction be put in abeyance till such time the issue is resolved. To this effect, they requested an urgent meeting with the commissioner and secretary of the NPWD, the Engineer in Chief (NPWD), and the Chief Engineer (R&B) over the recent letter of the Chief Engineer given the long duration of 11 years of involvement with the project.
The committee observed that since the project's commencement, it has performed the responsibilities of this project and worked hard to protect this monumental Naga project. They proved that in 2013, the PWD (R&B) formally permitted the NFHRCC to choose contractors to execute the Foothills Road project that was to be undertaken on credit.
They said that there was strong opposition to this task when the department asked them to take up the challenge and the committee accepted it. The committee also further added that even though a resolution was passed by the Nagaland Legislative Assembly on September 22, 2022, stating that the Foothills Road will be constructed with the support of NEC, repeated requests from the committee on progress related to this project remain unanswered.
These hold-ups forced the NFHRCC to approach the Governor, which necessitated them to meet the Union Minister of DoNER in Delhi on December 17, 2023. According to the committee, then it was sanctioned the project under the SASCI scheme. On 8th May 2024, The committee submitted a seven-point memorandum to the concerned department insisting that there should be a tripartite agreement between the department, the committee, and the contractors for the completion of work.
To organize the youth of Naga entrepreneurs, the committee recommended awarding a work order for any contractor for a 10-15 km stretch of road. In the approach of a working season, they renewed in 2014 the memorandum of agreement with the Nagaland Contractors and Suppliers Union (NCSU). On October 15, 2024, NFHRCC sent an official letter to the concerned department asking for a meeting to discuss the two-lane construction, the Foothills Road (FHR).
However, the committee was shocked when it received a letter on October 16, 2024, from the Chief Engineer of Roads & Bridges that the department could not officially include the NFHRCC in the allocation of work and the NFHRCC was not authorized to unilaterally enter into a tripartite agreement for execution of the Foothills Road project.
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