Dimapur, January 16 (MExN): The Naga community in Mumbai has issued an urgent appeal to the Governor of Nagaland, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, and the Chief Minister, Dr Neiphiu Rio, calling for immediate intervention to revive the state’s Nagaland House in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, which has “remained non-functional.”
In an open letter, Hamyan Phom, Pastor, NCF Mumbai and Representative of the Naga Community in Mumbai detailed the “neglected and forgotten” state of the government property, which was completed in 2010 but has remained non-functional for the last 16 years.
Phom described a dire situation at the site stating the “ceilings are falling, floors are cracking, lifts are non-functional, walls are deteriorating, and most of the lighting installed 16 years ago is no longer working.”
He noted that only a few security personnel are currently stationed there, while the state government continues to spend “lakhs of rupees every month on maintenance.”
“Nagaland House, Mumbai, is still in the Intensive Care Unit,” Phom wrote, calling it a “haunted structure of broken promises” where the only sign of the state government is a calendar hanging inside the deserted building.
The appeal highlighted the severe hardship faced by hundreds of Nagas arriving in Mumbai annually for employment, education and, most critically, medical treatment.
“Mumbai is one of the most expensive cities in India,” Phom stated, outlining exorbitant rents and hotel costs near major hospitals. “Many families are pushed into debt, distress and despair, not because treatment is unavailable, but because support systems are absent.”
“What pains me the most is this - Cancer patients and their families arrive in Mumbai almost every week, yet they have no place to stay,” he described adding that the deceased are being mourned outside mortuaries under severe restrictions due to the lack of a dignified space for condolence services. “Many patients have passed away longing to see Nagaland House functional before they died,” he stated.
The letter raised questions about the persistent neglect, noting that cities like Delhi and Kolkata have two functional Nagaland Houses each. “Why is there not at least one functional Nagaland House in Mumbai?” Phom asked, suggesting, “Is it because decision-makers’ families have not needed treatment here in Mumbai?”
He attributes the prolonged delay to a “lack of sustained follow-up and continuity in negotiations with Maharashtra government and authorities for settlement or occupancy clearances. “Every passing year of delay increases financial loss, structural damage, and public disappointment. More importantly, it erodes trust in governance and deprives present and future generations of Nagas of a facility meant to serve them,” Phom argued.
On behalf of Naga patients, students, professionals and the church community in Mumbai, Phom made a “humble and urgent” request for the Governor and Chief Minister to intervene with “seriousness and urgency” to make the facility fully operational within the current year.
“Nagaland House must not remain a monument of delay,” he asserted, adding that the community is ready to cooperate socially and voluntarily. “We are not asking for luxury. We are asking for dignity, compassion, and responsibility.”
