Rio inaugurates State’s first 4-lane bridge

November 30, 2021 56 Views No Comment

Correspondent Kohima, NOV 30(NPN): State chief minister Neiphiu Rio dedicated the newly-constructed Sanuorü bridge to Nagas on Monday.

Making a short speech on the occasion, he said the four-lane archway bridge, which was the first of its kind in Nagaland, was one of the most important and long-awaited bridges in the State and it would connect Secretariat with the rest of the city. He observed that Nagaland was still lagging behind in infrastructural development.

Coupled with the unresolved Naga issue and landownership system, Rio said the State was facing hurdles in its efforts to construct roads and other infrastructure. He remarked that while some landowners were very generous when approached, there were others who created problems not just in Kohima but throughout the State.

While thanking landowners who had been cooperative, he urged others to sacrifice or part with their land for the sake of all-round development, when required.

He pointed out that in other States, land belonged to the government. “But, here in Nagaland, it was the other way around, resulting in the State lagging behind,” he added.

He claimed that the State government tried its best to negotiate and paid compensation when deals were struck for development work. He assured that due respect and recognition would be given to landowners, but insisted that they should not cause any obstruction, else this would only lead to deadlock.

The chief minister remarked that the State was all set to witness festivals, including the Hornbill Festival, for which guests would be arriving soon, and followed by Christmas. He prayed that peace would prevail in the land.

He urged the people to stay united and extend cooperation to the government so that the latter could build good roads and other infrastructure, which would give the younger generation a chance to compete with rest of the world.

He urged the people to make keeping towns and roads clean their responsibility. He said all citizens of the State were stakeholders and therefore they should promote cleanliness instead of complaining that their cities were dirty.

Rio thanked the landowners, contractors, engineers, PWD and everyone involved both directly and indirectly in the successful completion of the bridge.

The dedication programme was chaired by principal secretary, roads & bridges, Menukhol John, who also gave a brief highlight about the bridge.

He disclosed that the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) had approved fund for the 65-metre bridge in November 2015.

Thereafter, he said work was allotted to Vilelie Khamo and KC Angami in July 2016, while actual bridge layout was given only in November 2018.

Altogether Rs 20 crore was sanctioned under CRF (MoRTH) in December 2015 and Rs 15.81 crore was sanctioned under State resources for additional work in 2021, which brought the total cost of the project to Rs 35.81 crore, he added.

So far, he claimed that MoRTH had released Rs 5.35 crore, while the State government released Rs 7 crore bringing the total paid amount to Rs 12.35 crore and a balance of Rs 23.46 crore, which was yet to be released.

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/rio-inaugurates-state-s-first-4-lane-bridge/245595.html