Score of Manipur on basics of life Pathetic water and power supply
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Power supply. Water supply. Motorable roads. Education or educational institutions and the atmosphere that encourages education. What is the score of Manipur on these basics of life ? Or more specifically on a scale of 1 to 10, where would the people place Manipur on these parameters ? The answer could be anywhere on the scale but obviously Manipur would not come anywhere near the benchmark of ‘Excellent’ or even ‘Good’. At the most the score could be ‘Average’ or below ‘Average.’ And why is it that Governments after Governments have failed to address these basics ? Candles continue to sell well in any of the leikai shops. Inverters or the battery operated lighting system are fitted in many homes. And in some homes, power genset is there as the backup. Water supply ? It is something more of a joke given that almost all the households continue to rely on water storage tanks, either portable or for those who have the space and the resources, those fitted in the house. True Manipur or rather Imphal has moved on from those days when young girls and boys would queue up with their utensils at the spot where the water would gush out from the pipe and those who could afford it would come with their privately modified cycle rickshaws which can carry the water filled utensils. Moved on, yes, but even today, water supply comes at best only three times in a week, and so weak is the pressure that many have to rely on the water pump to draw the water from the main pipe. This is the present reality and come the dry season then one can imagine the situation. This is when one can expect the water tankers and the three wheelers which supply in lesser quantity such as two or four thousand litres of water, to step in and do the job of supplying water to the people, of course at a price. It is amid this reality that The Sangai Express has carried the report that smart meters have been installed at about 50,000 households in Imphal Municipality area. In some localities the smart meters were installed more than 18 months back but not activated as yet with all the consumers having to pay a lump sum of Rs 250 per month. The question is, will a change of the smart meter be necessitated once it becomes necessary to activate them ? And if the smart meters are activated would it mean paying for the new instalment ? And if the meters already installed were not to be activated where was the need to instal them ? Is it about the business of contract/supply works ? No answers are expected but these are questions worth raising for it is about something as basic as water supply.
The basics of life and it is more than obvious that the State Government has miserably failed in addressing the fundamental needs of the people. Other than power and water supply what about roads ? Forget about the roads in the villages and the hill districts, what about the roads in Imphal ? At the moment, the focus of the Government seems to be on the rigid pavement, the laying of which has started in some sections in Imphal but what about the other road stretches ? The Sangai Express has commented numerous times on the pathetic state of the roads in Imphal to no avail and it is apparent that the people will have to continue living with the bumps and potholed roads besides the garbages at all the public places. This is how people have been forced to survive for long. That the Government is just not focused on the basics of life for its people can also be gauged from the fact that no thought has been given to the education of the young students. Perhaps nothing illustrates this better than the compelling need felt by all parents and elders of the family to look outside the State for the higher education of their wards and children. Those who crack NEET and JEE may make their way to RIMS, JNIMS, CMC and the NIT here or elsewhere, but not everyone is cut to be a doctor or an engineer and the question is, why aren’t the colleges here taken as viable options ? The number of students from Manipur studying outside the State should have jolted the sense of the Government a long time back, but there is nothing to show that some thoughts have been given on this count. Just survive Manipur is the advice.
The basics of life and it is more than obvious that the State Government has miserably failed in addressing the fundamental needs of the people. Other than power and water supply what about roads ? Forget about the roads in the villages and the hill districts, what about the roads in Imphal ? At the moment, the focus of the Government seems to be on the rigid pavement, the laying of which has started in some sections in Imphal but what about the other road stretches ? The Sangai Express has commented numerous times on the pathetic state of the roads in Imphal to no avail and it is apparent that the people will have to continue living with the bumps and potholed roads besides the garbages at all the public places. This is how people have been forced to survive for long. That the Government is just not focused on the basics of life for its people can also be gauged from the fact that no thought has been given to the education of the young students. Perhaps nothing illustrates this better than the compelling need felt by all parents and elders of the family to look outside the State for the higher education of their wards and children. Those who crack NEET and JEE may make their way to RIMS, JNIMS, CMC and the NIT here or elsewhere, but not everyone is cut to be a doctor or an engineer and the question is, why aren’t the colleges here taken as viable options ? The number of students from Manipur studying outside the State should have jolted the sense of the Government a long time back, but there is nothing to show that some thoughts have been given on this count. Just survive Manipur is the advice.