Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Kohima: The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) is demanding an immediate federal inquiry into the completion of the Dimapur-Kohima four-lane highway. The group says the project is plagued by poor workmanship and dangerous safety gaps. They filed the demand with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on September 13.
The Medziphema-Peducha stretch of NH-29 is failing. The road surface is shredded. Drainage is non-existent. Slope protection is crumbling. NSF president Mteisuding and general secretary Kenilo Kent stated the road has deteriorated significantly over the last four to five years. The conditions create a death trap for commuters, particularly at night and during monsoon storms.
Lives have been lost. The federation attributes these fatalities and various injuries to rockfalls and crashes caused by persistent negligence from the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL). Despite these hazards, authorities issued a completion certificate for Package-II. The NSF calls this decision into question. The project remains under a five-year Defect Liability Period, yet the federation insists, "defects including collapsing side walls, inadequate drainage, poor slope protection, damaged road surfaces and deficiencies in road-safety infrastructure allegedly remained visible at various locations."
NHIDCL claims the contractor is ghosting them. On September 12, the agency told the Guwahati High Court Kohima Bench that the Package-II EPC contractor ignored repeated notices. They submitted an estimate on September 1 to fix the road at the contractor's risk and cost, but they are still waiting for approval.
The federation wants the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to hold officials, consultants, and contractors accountable. They also flagged similar failures on the Kohima Bypass, Kohima-Mao Road, Dimapur Bypass, Akash Bridge-Jessami Road, and the Peren-Dimapur section. The group is now pushing the government to fire NHIDCL as the project lead, demanding the state PWD or the National Highways Authority of India take over immediately.
Updated at 14th September 2026 at 9:48am
The federation specifically blamed a lack of monsoon preparedness for the ongoing crisis. They cited the absence of preventive drainage maintenance, erosion control, and emergency-response mechanisms as primary reasons for the highway’s current state. The group also noted they had flagged missing safety barriers, reflective markers, and warning signage in an earlier statement issued on August 19.
Fed up with the delays, the student body threatened to launch democratic protests if the authorities do not act. They stated they would continue monitoring all NHIDCL projects across the state and warned that if the negligence persists, they will be compelled to initiate appropriate democratic measures and necessary courses of action in the larger interest of the Naga people.
Updated at 14th September 2026 at 1:48pm
The federation is calling for more than just an inquiry. They want the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to slap contractors with direct disciplinary and contractual penalties for the shoddy work. They argue that public safety outweighs any institutional loyalty, insisting that the state must hold specific consultants and officials personally responsible for the persistent failures.
The group claims this rot extends far beyond the Dimapur-Kohima stretch. They are keeping a close watch on several other troubled sites, including slope protection works along NH-29, the Kohima Bypass, Kohima-Mao Road, Dimapur Bypass, the Akash Bridge-Jessami Road on NH-202, and both Packages II and III of the Peren-Dimapur section on NH-129A.
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