On April 9, the Nagaland Public Works Department (Roads & Bridges) issued a statement denying it had received an administrative approval from the state government for roughly Rs 430 crore for the second phase of the Nagaland Foothill Road, touching off a public dispute with the Nagaland Foothills Road Coordination Committee (NFHRCC) that has cited government documents saying otherwise. The NFHRCC had earlier warned it would begin blockading the PWD (R&B) Dimapur Division office from April 15 unless work orders for the second phase were issued.
At a press conference in Dimapur on April 6 the NFHRCC said the PWD had received “administrative approval amounting to Rs 43,077.84 lakh” and on April 10 released what it described as an official government communication dated March 15, 2024 (No. WH/R&B-75/2013-14/Foothill, Kohima) addressed to the Chief Engineer, PWD (R&B). The committee said the March 15 letter conveyed a “Revised Administrative Approval for the Foothill Road” estimated at Rs 430.77 crore and explicitly mentioned the “approval of the Minister (R&B), Nagaland.” The document reportedly refers to an earlier letter dated March 14, 2024.
The PWD’s initial reply was terse: “The Department is not aware of such Administrative Approval having been accorded by the Government.” That denial prompted the NFHRCC to accuse the department of trying to hide “government failures to provide requisite funds” and described the denial as “nothing short of betraying the people of Nagaland,” calling it “ill-constructed and misleading.”
Late on April 10 the PWD issued a corrigendum that said its earlier denial had been “made inadvertently and without any malafide intention.” The department acknowledged that approval had been accorded in March 2024 but said it was “never sanctioned and has since become infructuous.” It clarified that the only committed funding for the ongoing Foothill Road project remains Rs 148.50 crore sanctioned under the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) scheme in July 2024, and added that it “acknowledges and appreciates the suggestions and continued support” from the NFHRCC.
The NFHRCC provided a funding chronology it says documents the project’s trajectory: Rs 148.50 crore under SASCI, an administrative approval for a single lane of Rs 191.3863 crore on February 12, 2024, and the revised double‑lane approval of Rs 430.7784 crore on March 15, 2024. The dispute leaves unresolved questions about the financial basis and authorization for the Foothill Road’s second phase and whether work orders will be issued before the NFHRCC’s planned action.
Original Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/pwd-rbs-denial-of-admin-approval-for-foothill-road-second-phase-under-scrutiny
Category: Nagaland
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Publish Date: 2026-04-10 23:02:00
