A fresh controversy over a missing Rs 430 crore “administrative approval” has again thrown the long-delayed Nagaland Foothill Road project into the spotlight and raised the prospect of a broader clash over land and constitutional safeguards if the state proceeds with plans to convert the route into a four‑lane, all‑weather Trans‑Nagaland Highway. The dispute ties together years of stop‑start funding, questions about transparency and accountability, bidding disputes and legal fights, and it risks pitting the government against tribal bodies invoking Article 371(A).
The Foothill Road first moved from concept to commitment in 2013, when the then DAN‑III government agreed to fund the project after pressure from tribal organisations. That initial pledge of Rs 80 crore was split into two tranches — Rs 40 crore in 2013‑14 and Rs 30 crore the following year — and work formally began in December 2013. Construction stalled in 2016 with earth‑cutting left undone in two sectors and progress has been sporadic since.
The project resurfaced with new funding injections — Rs 30 crore in 2021 and Rs 148 crore in 2024 — but those allocations have been shadowed by the unexplained absence of an alleged Rs 430 crore administrative approval that officials have not yet accounted for. Over the years the scheme has been dogged by allegations ranging from opaque bidding to a libel suit, underscoring persistent questions about governance.
Locally, the Foothill Road carries strategic importance. Repeated bandhs and an unresolved border dispute with Assam, plus occasional road incidents involving Nagaland commuters, have underscored the vulnerability of a state where roughly half the population relies on NH‑129 and the Dhodar Ali road in a neighbouring state. Tribal groups pushed for an internal alternative running along the foothills; several converged to form the Nagaland Foothills Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC), which won government concessions including exemptions from certain statutory taxes, a veto on taxation by Naga political groups, and an agreement by landowners to forgo compensation — terms that helped secure official approval.
The present controversy stems from the state’s renewed drive to upgrade the Foothill Road to National Highway status as a four‑lane expressway — a move that would transfer financial responsibility to the Centre. But central requirements for NH status include adoption of the National Highways Act, 1956, and application of the RFCTLARR Act, 2013, for land acquisition, replacing the Nagaland Land (Requisition and Acquisition) Act, 1965. Tribal organisations have signalled firm opposition to adopting the NH Act, fearing it weakens customary land protections under Article 371(A).
Critics say the push to rebrand and upgrade the Foothill Road may be a political diversion from the government’s failure to finish the intermediate‑lane road started in 2013. With funding gaps unresolved and constitutional concerns raised, the project now sits at the nexus of development promises, fiscal accountability and deep‑seated safeguards for tribal land and autonomy.
Original Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/the-grand-foothill-highway-seduction
Category: Editorial
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Publish Date: 2026-04-19 23:34:00
