Minister of PWD Housing and Mechanical, Tongpang Ozukum, on Monday virtually laid the foundation stones for Naga Patient Home in Vellore and District Office Complex in Mokokchung district here at PWD Chief Engineer Office Complex, Kohima.
Speaking on the occasion, minister Tongpang Ozukum said the Naga community in Chennai in collaboration with patients who go for treatment to Vellore had been trying for a home and a shelter for the Naga community on order to cater to the needs of the patients; they had also written to the government on several occasions.
Ozukum said Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, listening to the cry of the people and realising the necessity and importance to have such an infrastructure, wrote a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin.
Following this, Ozukum said he personally went down to Chennai to meet the Chief Minister and other officials. Stalin gave a patient hearing and promptly responded to our requests to allot a plot of land in Vellore for the construction of the Naga Patient House, he added.
“The next day we went to Vellore accompanied by Chief Engineer, Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) and visited three sites belonging to TMHB. But later on, the Governemnt of Tamil Nadu allotted a plot of measuring 10,000 sq.ft. belonging to Land Revenue department free of cost in order to accommodate Naga patients coming to CMC Vellore for treatment,” informed Ozukum.
The minister expressed his gratitude to the Tamil Nadu government for their generosity and stated that the noble initiative of the PWD Housing department which was possible because of the unwavering support of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio would go a long way in maintaining a cordial relationship with the counterpart Tamil Nadu Government and most importantly “give a home away from home” to the patients from Nagaland.
The proposed project in Vellore aims to provide accommodation at minimal cost to Naga patients seeking medical treatment at CMC Vellore. The proposed building is designed to have 25 guest rooms attached with kitchens, two dormitories, basement parking, a multipurpose hall with a capacity for 150 people, a canteen and dining hall with a capacity for 30 people, one office and one quarter for caretaker, lobby/reception area, differently abled friendly features including hospital lift and security guard room.
Meanwhile, with regard to the construction of District Office Complex at Wazako Lu, Mokokchung, the minister said it is a much-needed infrastructure in order to accommodate those departments whose offices are in rented buildings.
“There are around 75 departments in Mokokchung district and out of those, 14 department [do] not have their own office building. Therefore, it was felt necessary to come up with such infrastructure,” he added.
The Minister remarked that Mokokchung town is now completely saturated, as it is in almost all urban areas in Nagaland.
He expressed his gratitude to the Aolepden descendants of the Longkumer clan of Mokokchung village for selling the land to the state government at a minimal rate.
Furthermore, he said the construction may take a few years and urged upon the PWD Housing department and also the government to give importance to such initiatives in order to ensure that all departments would function from their own office and the government would henceforth not spend time and resources for construction of new departmental offices in Mokokchung district.
The project was approved at an estimated cost of Rs 23.44 Crore and awarded to M/S Saramati Construction. The building is designed as a G+2 storey building having a plinth area of 4,890Sqm which will consist of 143 rooms having 15 rooms in the basement, 50 rooms in the ground floor, 53 rooms in the first floor and 25 rooms in the second floor.
The building is designed to accommodate 10 departments in four blocks with a central block having an atrium. The building will also provide differently abled friendly features such as ramps which will be made accessible to all floors and a front canopy for car parking.
On completion of this project, the building will provide office space to the following District Offices:
1. District Fishery Officer
2. Superintendent of Excise Mokokchung
3. DIC Office
4. Chief Veterinary Officer
5. District Education Officer
6. SE Electrical
7. EE Transmission
8. Urban Development Department
9. District Social Welfare Officer
10. CDPO (Ongpangkong North)
The project started in April 2022 and is currently under construction with good physical progress and with timely funding, the project is scheduled to be completed by March 2025.
