CM tables bills in assembly to form finance panel, zoning of flood plains in Nagaland

Kohima, Sep 2 (PTI) Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Tuesday introduced two bills on the first day of the monsoon session of the state Assembly, seeking to form a finance commission and zoning of flood plains in the state.

The bills are “The Nagaland State Finance Commission Bill, 2025” and “The Nagaland Flood Plain Zoning Bill 2025.” In the introductory note, Rio, who also holds the finance portfolio, said that the object of the Nagaland State Finance Commission Bill is to provide for the constitution of a State Finance Commission for the state.

The panel would facilitate progressive fiscal decentralisation, strengthen local governance and enable local bodies and rural local bodies to discharge their responsibilities effectively, he said.

Rio stated that the recommendation of the Commission will serve as the basis of equitable devolution of resources, ensuring that the local self government institutions in Nagaland are financially viable and capable of providing essential civic services.

The CM said that the Commission is required to review the financial position of the panchayats and urban local bodies and to recommend principles governing the distribution of the state’s financial resources with them.

The other bill is to provide the zoning of flood plains of rivers in Nagaland, he said.

The Flood Zoning Authority would carry out surveys of flood plains of the rivers and determine the nature and extent of flood plains of the rivers.

The primary purpose of the Flood Plan Zoning Bill is to regulate land use, development in flood-prone areas and plan to mitigate flood damage, the chief minister said.

Rio said that ‘flood plain’ includes water channel, flood channel and the area of nearby lowland susceptible to flood inundation.

‘Flood plain zoning’ means retracting any human activity in the flood plains of a river where the plains are created by overflow of water from the channels of rivers and streams, while ‘flood zone means the area that is required to carry the flow of the maximum probable floods.

Speaker Sharingain Longkumer said that both bills would be taken up for consideration and passage on Thursday, the last day of the session. PTI NBS NN