Dimapur, June 1: The first phase of the Department for Development of North East Region-funded embankment project on river Dhansiri at Nahar Bari and Rangapahar was formally inaugurated on Saturday, providing the residents with the much-needed respite from the menace of soil erosion.
?Hopefully, our worst fears of losing our land and homes to monsoon floods is now a thing of the past,? said Hokato, a settler on the bank of Dhansiri.
The residents expressed the hope that the project would serve its purpose and prove its worth when it faces its first acid test in August.
Over the past several years, annual erosion, a result of monsoon floods, has severely affected Nahar Bari and Rangapahar villages, both situated along the banks of the Dhansiri.
According to official figures, the river is eating away as much as about 15 metres annually and is edging towards the national highway near the Nahar Bari area.
Nagaland minister for irrigation and flood control M.C. Konyak inaugurated the project at a simple function at the Nahar Bari work site. Konyak, Howeto Aomi, minister for CAWD, labour and employment and Neiba Konyak, information and public works minister, were present at the ceremony.
The ministers urged the people living in the affected areas to protect the embankment at any cost.
While acknowledging the possibility of flaws in the construction, Konyak appealed to the people to report any such matter to the department.
The three ministers of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland, who visited the site, promised that they would urge the Centre to sanction funds for completing the embankment for the entire stretch of the affected bank.
Phase I covered about 681 metres at Nahar Bari and 360 metres at Rangapahar.
Konyak also felicitated the officers and the staff of the department as well as the contractors for completing the project in a record time.
Howeto said the completion of the project marked the first achievement of the DAN government and urged the people to co-operate with the government. ?Ministers alone cannot bring peace and development in the state. The people will have to get involved,? he said.