Kohima mass social work: shops shut till noon on Nov 13

KOHIMA – Shops and business establishments across Kohima district will keep their shutters down until 12 noon on Friday, Nov. 13, when the district holds a mass social work from 6 a.m. to clean up ahead of the festive season and the Hornbill Festival.

The Kohima mass social work was announced in a notification from the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Kohima, shared by MyGov Nagaland. It sets out how the capital district will carry out the state-wide clean-up that the Nagaland government ordered for the same day.

Shopkeepers are not simply being told to close. The notification asks them to clean the stretch in front of their own premises while the drive is under way.

The order comes days after the Kohima Chamber of Commerce and Industry asked every shop in the Kohima municipal area to repaint its shutters by Nov. 30 as part of its golden jubilee.

Who does what in the Kohima mass social work

All government offices and their employees are expected to take part, along with urban local bodies, village councils, civil society organisations, local associations and the public.

Heads of offices must mobilise staff and resources. Each department given a location must arrange its own workers and disposal trucks, and have the vehicles ready by Thursday, Nov. 12.

In town, the wards of the Kohima Municipal Council will lead. Each ward is to work with its ward councillor to supervise the clean-up in its colonies and draw in as many residents as possible.

Schools, colleges and other educational institutions will clean their own campuses and surroundings. In rural areas, village councils will coordinate with the area administrative officers concerned.

Waste to go to KMC dumping site

Team leaders have been made responsible for taking all collected garbage to the Kohima Municipal Council dumping site. The notification says no waste or debris should be left lying by the roadside.

Departments remain answerable for their assigned areas. Any work left unfinished on Nov. 13 must be completed the next day.

Hornbill Festival three weeks away

The drive comes less than three weeks before the 27th Hornbill Festival, which runs from Dec. 1 to 10 at the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, about 12 km south of Kohima, according to DD News.

At a preparatory meeting on Oct. 13, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio listed cleanliness among the essentials for the festival, alongside roads, power and security, and asked villages to keep highways clean, The Morung Express reported.

The state-wide order was issued by the Home Department on Nov. 2. It asked each deputy commissioner to submit a location-wise work plan by Nov. 7, and left shop-closure orders to local authorities. Kohima’s notification is that local plan.

With inputs from MyGov Nagaland.