Zhaleo instructs dist officials to act against illegal encroachers
DIMAPUR, SEPTEMBER 24: The State Government and Dimapur district administration finally woke up to inspect and survey the areas in and around Dimapur, which often get flooded during heavy rains, causing people to suffer.
The 2-day inspection of different places in and around Dimapur revealed that most of the drains/drainages have been clogged due to dumping of garbage and plastic waste, besides there have been illegal construction and encroachment upon the drains.
Advisor for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Zhaleo Rio, who along with DC, Dimapur, Sachin Jaiswal and officials of Dimapur District Administration, Administrator, Dimapur Municipal Council, Manpai Phom and other officials, officials of Medical Department, officials of Urban Development Department and police, visited more than 30 places in and around Dimapur, was of the view that all illegal encroachments upon the drainage should be removed or demolished.
He instructed district officials to initiate action against illegal encroachers immediately. He asked the Deputy Commissioner to give them a time frame to remove all illegal and unauthorized construction and if the people do not comply, law should be applied and all illegal construction be demolished by force.
Addressing media persons after conclusion of 2-day inspection, Zhaleo said the 2-day inspection covered almost all Dimapur ward areas and colonies, which were affected by floods recently.
He said the purpose was to find out whether drainages were in proper shape and also to assess the requirement of drainage in other low lying areas, because Dimapur area is affected by floods during monsoon season.
He informed that the team found that drains were constructed in many areas and were in place, and only few areas needed new construction.
The Advisor lamented that despite lots of awareness and education programmes about sanitation and cleanliness, citizens are yet to come up with expectation.
He appealed to citizens of Dimapur to inculcate healthy practices of disposing garbage and also to maintain the drainage and proper care of disposal of garbage.
He said unless citizens come forward and make it a culture of cleanliness and disposal of garbage, nothing much would happen.
Stating that though drainage system is in place, the Advisor said he was unhappy to see people disposing garbage in the drains.
He informed that DMC has removed the garbage, but still people have been throwing garbage in the drains.
What Government and district administration are doing is for the welfare of the citizens, but if environment is polluted and kept unclean, the waters in the dirty drain become hotbed for mosquito breeding, which may result in spread of viruses like Dengue, which the people of Dimapur are experiencing now.
He was also critical of structures constructed on drains and illegal encroachments which have blocked the drains in Dimapur. He also informed about illegal construction coming up in market areas.
Replying to a query on illegal encroachment, he said whatever area falls under the jurisdiction of DMC, it will be done accordingly and those areas which come under Urban Development would be taken up by them.
DMC Administrator, Manpai Phom informed that they surveyed important drainages in Dimapur and said flooding in Dimapur is a combination of many factors and one cannot find a one-stop solution overnight.
He said that collection time for solid waste is very less, which is about 3 years and it is not possible to cover the whole Municipal area during that time.
Stating that smaller vehicles provide greater accessibility and mobility, he further informed that very recently the DPDB has sanctioned money for smaller customized smaller garbage dumpers.
Phom said they are focussing on segregated waste collection but are not able to collect from each location on a daily basis. However, he said they would continue with the use of bigger vehicles as of now.
(Page News Service)
