Photo Courtesy: nagalandpost
Kohima: Nagaland Water Resources Advisor Tongpang Ozukum pressed the Ministry of Jal Shakti for faster fund releases to counter the state’s tight six-month work window. He spoke at the Jal Shakti Departmental Summit at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan in New Delhi between September 1 and 2, 2026. Money must move faster. The state operates from November to April, making prompt financing the difference between a finished project and a stalled one.
Ozukum targeted current bureaucratic hurdles during the meetings. He argued that the current nine-month audit requirement is too frequent and asked for a two-year cycle instead. Regarding the SNA-SPARSH monitoring module, he requested that mother sanctions arrive in no more than two installments per year. He also wants the government to stop requiring yearly re-approval for Surface Minor Irrigation projects already cleared by the State Level Sanctioning Committee.
Construction costs are rising. Ozukum proposed lifting the development cost ceiling for Minor Irrigation projects from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 6.5 lakh per hectare. He also pushed for price escalation provisions to cover delays that occur before projects even begin. "He urged the ministry to sanction at least one project for the state during the current financial year," noting that Nagaland has received zero Flood Management and Border Areas Programme projects in over a decade.
Erosion threatens Chümoukedima, Tuli, and Naginimora. Ozukum wants the ministry to permit both conventional and non-conventional anti-erosion techniques at these sites. The advisor also pushed the Nagaland Strategic Water Resilience Initiative for 2026-27 to manage monsoon runoff. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the summit, joined by the Union Minister for Jal Shakti and state officials.
Updated at 3rd September 2026 at 9:52pm
Ozukum clarified that because Nagaland focuses almost exclusively on Minor Irrigation projects, the state avoids typical headaches like land acquisition disputes, design changes, and messy inter-state coordination. The primary roadblock remains the money flow.
The state has already submitted four separate proposals for the Flood Management and Border Areas Programme over the last decade, all of which remain ignored. The advisor also pointed to the Chathe River as a specific point of concern for erosion.
To combat the irony of facing water shortages despite heavy monsoon rains, the state is pushing farm ponds as micro-harvesting structures. Funded by the NABARD Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, the initiative aims to boost groundwater recharge and secure rural water supplies against the state's steep, runoff-heavy geography. Nagaland Water Resources Department Secretary Akunu S. Meyase accompanied Ozukum at the summit.
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