Environmental activists in Mizoram have slammed the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) for not following environmental laws while undertaking road projects in the State.
A pro-conservation organisation by the name of Save Mizoram Rivers said the NHIDCL has been expanding the existing single-lane roads in the State to double-lane. But unlike in other States, the corporation has been turning a blind eye to environmental laws and pushing excavated soil downhill wherever the workers engaged find convenient, it said.
“Such activities destroy trees and bamboo groves, affect the biodiversity and dry up the perennial rivers. The impact of road construction under NHIDCL and the improper disposal of excavated soil on Mizoram’s environment is difficult to comprehend at this point,” Vanneihthanga Vanchhawng, the organisation’s founder-member, said in a statement.
“Good roads are a necessity for Mizoram — a heavily forested and hilly State. The Centre’s initiative to improve connectivity through expensive projects is appreciated. But there is no noticeable progress in the NHIDCL projects, and the indifference of the contractors to environmental norms is hard to ignore,” he said.
The organisation has also criticised the Mizoram State Biodiversity Board for lacking in functionality, as a result of which 893 Biodiversity Management Committees across the State have virtually been defunct. These committees are empowered to fine violators of environment laws up to ₹10 lakh.
“It is also depressing that the Mizoram government remains ignorant about the need to make NHIDCL, or the contractors engaged by it, to make spoil banks for depositing excavated earth, and not shove it downhill to kill the rivers and trees,” Mr. Vanchhawng said.
The NHIDCL, which falls under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, claims it has been abiding by all Central and State rules and regulations while executing projects in Mizoram and elsewhere in the country.
“The works are progressing according to the plans made and the contractors have been directed to finish protection measures along the spoil bank (dumping tract) — a concern of the general public — on a war footing,” an NHIDCL spokesperson said.
“We are also in the process of making the people understand the complexities and requirements of the project and assure them that the flora, fauna and biodiversity of Mizoram would be maintained as we are ethically and morally responsible,” he said.
