55 kms per day on the Imphal-Jiri stretch Welcome to second lifeline

Don’t blame the rain, though the heavy downpour that lashed Manipur in the last week of May and then again in the early part of July would have gone a long way in making things worse. It was as recently as March 28 in 2022 that The Sangai Express had noted the pathetic state of the Imphal-Jiribam line and back then it took 30 hours for a passenger bus to reach Imphal from Guwahati. The 30 hours was cited from the personal experience of a staff of this newspaper who was compelled to take the said route thanks to the ban on Manipur vehicles in Nagaland by the Southern Angami People’s Organisation (SAPO) and Southern Angami Youths Organisation (SAYO). Fast forward to 2024 and the 30 hours time has now extended to 4 days on the same highway and the recent downpour at the fag end of May and early part of July this year would have made things worse, no doubt about it, but here is a case of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) abjectly failing to maintain the basic minimum standard of a National Highway. One here is reminded of the tall talks the BJP led Government at Imphal crowed when they came to power in 2017, but by all accounts it is more than clear that all the talks have remained just that, lung power and nothing to show on the road, the place where it matters. The importance of the Imphal-Jiribam route need not to overstretched but with the Imphal-Dimapur line practically off limits for the Meiteis as it passes through Kangpokpi, the crucial role of this route has become all that more critical. One is not calling for an overnight change but at least some tangible efforts ought to have been taken if the BJP led Government here had tried to live up to its vocal power. The photograph of an LPG bullet tanker making its way through the mud and slush on the said road stretch and which accompanied the lead story ‘It takes 4 days to reach Jiribam from Imphal !’ on the July 17 edition of this newspaper should tell the story of how pathetic the condition of the highway is right now. No one knows what steps the State Government has taken to address this pressing point, but Manipur is a landlocked State and governance will be counted on how effective the Government is in addressing issues which are critical to the people. And addressing the plight of the second lifeline of the State and her people should definitely rank right up there on the list of priorities of the Government. The moot point is whether Imphal has taken note of the pathetic state of the National Highway or whether it will continue to stick to its character of indulging only in big talks with nothing to show at the ground level.
Everyone knows that the NHIDCL comes under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, but has Imphal highlighted the state of the highway to the authority concerned ? From the day the Imphal-Dimapur line became off limits for the Meiteis, no efforts should have been spared to keep the Imphal-Jiribam stretch in motorable condition. That this has not happened is there for all to see, and the 4 days time it takes to go from Imphal to Jiribam should underline this fact. How many of the Ministers in the BJP led Government at Imphal have taken a first hand account of the Imphal to Jiribam stretch after the Assembly election of 2022 ? This is where one is reminded of the road trip taken by the late Governor SS Sidhu back in 2005, in the month of August when the sky had opened up. Back then, Chief Minister N Biren who was then the Chairman of the Manipur Pollution Control Board was part of the advanced team which went ahead of the Governor to be at Jiribam. This was when the Imphal-Jiribam stretch of the National Highway was under the Border Roads Organisation and Manipur was under the Congress Government. The point is, the said road has seen a change of the implementing agency from BRO to NHIDCL and Imphal has seen a change of Government from the Congress to the BJP, but for this road stretch the change may just be nothing more than superficial for nothing has changed at the ground level. The same slushy and knee deep highway continues to greet the vehicles which take this route. Back in 2022 it was 30 hours for a passenger bus to come to Imphal from Guwahati and in 2024 it is now 4 days for a truck to go to Jiribam from Imphal. The pathetic story continues.