ISBT : Not exactly an auspicious start Refurbished and repaired
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It did not have an auspicious start and there is nothing to suggest that the State Government has picked up a point or two to see that the past is not repeated. Inaugurated with much fanfare by then Prime Minister the Late Dr Manmohan Singh in the company of AICC leader Sonia Gandhi in 2011, prior to the 2012 Assembly elections, neglect has been an integral part of the Inter State Bus Terminus since then. After it was inaugurated, it was not thrown open to the public, but instead became a sort of an open defecation place with the incoming goods trucks and others directed to put up there. It was back then The Sangai Express had published a lead story on how the ISBT had been turned into an open defecation place and followed this up with numerous stories on how the place has been reduced to a place of rubble and rubbish, with slush and mud all over the place. During the Covid pandemic all goods laden trucks had to report there to get the drivers and helpers tested for the virus. With the loaded trucks making their way to the ISBT, the pressure on the infrastructure must have been intense and even roads leading to the said place started breaking up in due course of time. After the pandemic blew over, no repair work worth the name was ever taken up and a project taken up costing crores of rupees was left to its own fate. Before it started breaking up and before it was abandoned to its own fate, inter-State buses reported and departed from this place, and Dingku road was not crowded with parked taxis. After the ISBT started breaking up or when it was on its last lap, it did provide some space for taxi service or Wingers operating on the Imphal-Ukhrul road to pick passengers with a desk acting as the ticket counter. This arrangement however did not last long and before the refurbished ISBT was thrown open for public use, ticket counters for the Imphal- Ukhrul taxi and Winger service were opened just inside the outer circle of ISBT. The potholes and bumps on the short stretch of road, that is from the main gate till the ticket counters, fittingly summed up the state of the ISBT back then. With keen interests shown by Additional Chief Secretary Anurag Bajpai, the complex has now been thrown open for public use, but if the past is any indication, question still remains on how long the repaired ISBT would last. Has any model been worked out to put it in a position to finance itself via any model ? How much did the repair work cost ? Unfortunate it is but these are points which have not been spelt out so far.
It is also still not clear on what model the Government hopes to make the ISBT work and function efficiently. Has any thought been given along this line ? Spelling out the details on this would certainly help the people understand better, for an ISBT should encompass so many things within its precinct. What are the approaches adopted to ensure that there would be sufficient water in the toilets which have been opened inside the complex ? Who or which department will supply the water ? Putting up a building is but one part of the infrastructure and it is the job of the Government to look into these details, or else the toilets will be the first to start developing problems. How about the wastes that would come once passengers start arriving at the ISBT either to board or deboard from the buses ? How about power supply ? Components which the Government must have given thought to, no doubt, but the question of greater importance is ensuring these components work and do not conk out after they start operation. There was a time when any private vehicle that entered the complex had to pay a fee while exiting and the question is whether the fees thus collected were utilised rightly. Which department was responsible for collecting the fees from the private vehicles and whether the same department would be entrusted the same assignment now that the complex has been thrown open for public use. The Government will need to work out all the finer details of the newly repaired complex and the minutest of details should be addressed to, to make it fit for an ISBT.
It is also still not clear on what model the Government hopes to make the ISBT work and function efficiently. Has any thought been given along this line ? Spelling out the details on this would certainly help the people understand better, for an ISBT should encompass so many things within its precinct. What are the approaches adopted to ensure that there would be sufficient water in the toilets which have been opened inside the complex ? Who or which department will supply the water ? Putting up a building is but one part of the infrastructure and it is the job of the Government to look into these details, or else the toilets will be the first to start developing problems. How about the wastes that would come once passengers start arriving at the ISBT either to board or deboard from the buses ? How about power supply ? Components which the Government must have given thought to, no doubt, but the question of greater importance is ensuring these components work and do not conk out after they start operation. There was a time when any private vehicle that entered the complex had to pay a fee while exiting and the question is whether the fees thus collected were utilised rightly. Which department was responsible for collecting the fees from the private vehicles and whether the same department would be entrusted the same assignment now that the complex has been thrown open for public use. The Government will need to work out all the finer details of the newly repaired complex and the minutest of details should be addressed to, to make it fit for an ISBT.