The Naga Council Dimapur has demanded the construction of a foothill road to connect Mon, Longleng, Mokokchung, Wokha and Dimapur to avoid harassment while travelling.
The proposed road, once constructed, will allow people of the state to travel within Nagaland only.
The council’s president, T. Bengerloba, said construction of the road within the state’s boundary will go a long way towards mitigating the hardships of travellers.
It will help to generate employment opportunities through hotels and roadside businesses as well.
Ao Senso Telongjem Dimapur requested tribal hohos, churches, village councils and other organisations to come together and help complete the foothill road.
The group’s general secretary, C. Onen Walling, said in the absence of the proposed road, the people of the state had to face heavy taxation while travelling along roads in Assam.
In 2011, DoNER minister B.K. Handique recommended two important roads in Nagaland to be included in the phase A of Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North Eastern States (SARDP-NE).
The estimated cost was projected at Rs 1,484 crore.
In 2012, Naga Students’ Federation, concerned over the situation along the Nagaland-Assam border, in a seven-point memorandum submitted to the Nagaland governor, appealed for the foothill road.
The Lotha Lower Range Public Organisation, Wokha, Western Sumi Hoho and Dimapur Ao Youth Organisation have also dema- nded the construction of the road.
Western Sumi Hoho general secretary H. Viyiho Swu said it supported the points raised by the Ao Senso Telongjem Dimapur and Central Nagaland Tribal Council.
The hoho gave the example of the east-west and north-south corridors and said the state government should plan a similar project in Nagaland.
Central Nagaland Tribal Council vice-president Hokiye Yeptho also lamented that successive state governments in the past 50 years have failed to fulfil the people’s demand for the proposed road.