Dust in winter; mud and slush in summer Failure down the years
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When it rains, it is all about leikhom-leinang and now with the dry season that comes with winter every year, it is all about uphul-waiphul. A reality under which Manipur has had to live down the decades and while the Air Quality Index may not be that unhealthy, especially when compared with the metros of the country, it stands that air pollution, via the dust kicked up from the roads is very much a reality. Take a freshly washed car out for a ride anywhere in Imphal and in no time the vehicle will be covered with dust and more dust. It is not known whether an in-depth medical study has been conducted on the health hazards posed by the dust kicked up from the roads of Imphal during the winter season, but studies across the world have shown that inhaling polluted air kills approximately about 7 million or 70 lakh people worldwide annually. And this is a huge figure, a figure which is more than the total population of Manipur. Dusts from roads invariably mean that worn out and potholes filled roads criss cross the entire length and breadth of Imphal and this is not an exaggeration. A ride down any road stretch in Imphal, right now, should underline the pathetic state of the roads that adorn the capital city of the State of Manipur. Amazing it is that the Government has preferred to look the other way, without even a nod to acknowledge that it has failed miserably in making the lives of the people more comfortable. The Government may talk big about the start of laying the cement reinforced concrete roads on some stretches of the roads in Imphal and there may be plans to cover majority of the road stretches in Imphal East and Imphal West, but the question is how long it would take and whether the people are doomed to live under the pathetic roads with no one knowing when the roads would be repaired. For months, people living at Thangmeiband side had to take a detour for any movement southwards, as the bridge connecting Khoyathong road to Kanglapat road was under repair. The repair or construction of the newly laid bridge is now complete, but there is nothing to show that repairing the road leading to the bridge is on the anvil. The result, traffic jam every single day and clouds of dust kicked up by the vehicles going along the said road stretch. Making things worse is the reality of one department of the Government coming with all the heavy machineries and digging up the road to lay an underground pipe, dig a manhole and leave it open. Many roads in Imphal today have manholes, the covering of which are much higher than the road. Is this a case of abject engineering failure or a devil may care approach to one’s work that has come to the fore ? Either way it is the people who suffer and making it all that more disturbing is the fact that dusts kicked up from roads is one of the major contributors to air pollution in Imphal.
Come the rain and the dusts will be replaced by slush and mud and this is the state that the people of Manipur have been forced to survive all these years. How long should Manipur continue to survive in this pathetic state of existence ? Political leaders and political parties will come and go but the common thread that runs through all successive Governments is the indifference to the people. At the moment it is the roads that showcase the indifference of the powers that be to the existence of the people and tomorrow it could be anything else. In the last few months, a number of localities have felt constrained to come out and block the road that runs through their locality to highlight the pathetic state of the road. This should be a shame to the Government, for while it could be a case of the people protesting the pathetic state of the road, in essence it could also mean that the people have totally lost all confidence in the Government to do anything that could be mea- ningful to the people. The dust kicked up during winter, the mud and slush that dot the roads during summer, the impact on the health of the people, all reflect the conditions that people of Manipur have been forced to live with for ages. And the dusts kicked up from the roads and the mud and slush on the roads, are all reflections of ineffective Governments down the years which have refused to look at the reality.
Come the rain and the dusts will be replaced by slush and mud and this is the state that the people of Manipur have been forced to survive all these years. How long should Manipur continue to survive in this pathetic state of existence ? Political leaders and political parties will come and go but the common thread that runs through all successive Governments is the indifference to the people. At the moment it is the roads that showcase the indifference of the powers that be to the existence of the people and tomorrow it could be anything else. In the last few months, a number of localities have felt constrained to come out and block the road that runs through their locality to highlight the pathetic state of the road. This should be a shame to the Government, for while it could be a case of the people protesting the pathetic state of the road, in essence it could also mean that the people have totally lost all confidence in the Government to do anything that could be mea- ningful to the people. The dust kicked up during winter, the mud and slush that dot the roads during summer, the impact on the health of the people, all reflect the conditions that people of Manipur have been forced to live with for ages. And the dusts kicked up from the roads and the mud and slush on the roads, are all reflections of ineffective Governments down the years which have refused to look at the reality.