Pathetic state of roads in Imphal Indifference and apathy

For months The Sangai Express has been writing on the pathetic state of the roads in Imphal and will continue to do so for there is nothing at the ground to show that the Government has woken up to this. More than a case of indifference for couched in the silence of the Government is the unmistakable sign of haughtiness, a language that says that the common people can go take a hike. And it is this which is infuriating. For two straight days, The Sangai Express has published prominent news on some of the stretches that pass off as roads in Imphal. On December 7 and datelined Imphal December 6, this newspaper carried a prominent story on how the manholes that come along with the endless digging up of roads for the Imphal Sewerage Project, pose a threat to the motorists with the potholes jutting out way above the road level. This is at Thangmeiband Hijam Dewan Leikai and while the report referred to just a road stretch at a particular locality, a look at all the major roads in Imphal will tell a similar story. First black top the road and after a while dig it up to lay the pipes for the sewerage project and leave it as it is without even the bother of levelling the dug out portions. And it has been like this for ages. Inefficiency or sheer indifference is writ large in the works executed by the different Government departments and this is not acceptable at all. On the other hand, many have preferred to give this reality a comic twist with some chipping in with the line, ‘The road in our locality has been black topped and now one can expect the JCBs to come and dig up the road to lay the pipes for the sewerage project or for water connection.’ It is nothing but a case of taking the people for granted for too long. The danger posed by the jutting potholes was followed by a report on the pathetic state of the Sangaiprou FCI Road, which runs from Tiddim Road and connects it to Tera Lukram Leirak. Years of neglect and indifference are writ large on the volumes of dust kicked up on the said road stretch whenever a vehicle passes by. As the name itself suggests, the said road leads to the FCI godown and hence movement of loaded trucks is a given. To make matters all that more concerning is also the fact that a prominent private school is located along the said road and the volumes of dust kicked up everytime a vehicle passes by will surely pose serious hazards to the young students. This is not how the capital of a State must be maintained. This is not how a place which is being tagged under the Smart City Mission must be treated. It was not so long back that an Additional Chief Secretary inspected the ISBT complex and assured to do the needful to bring it back to life. It is some days since the inspection drive was conducted and one hopes constructive steps have been taken up to give the ISBT some semblance of a structure.
This is not the first time that The Sangai Express has written on the pathetic state of the roads in Imphal and this wouldn’t be the last either. Take the Wahengbam Leikai road on any given day and it is like driving through a dirt track. The RIMS Road, the route that takes one to the premier health institution in the State was repaired some time back, but no one knows when it would be dug up again to lay the pipes for whatever project or purpose it could be. Lack of co-ordination is writ large and it defies logic that successive Governments do not seem to have done anything to set up a sort of a mechanism to co-ordinate the functioning and working of the different departments. Or if there is any such mechanism it has not been put to use at all. The jutting potholes at Thangmeiband stand testimony to this. At the moment the Government has started laying the solid concrete pavement at some areas of Imphal, the one behind the office of the All India Radio having been completed. But anyone who has passed through this road stretch will point out how the concrete slab does not cover the whole width of the road leaving the uncovered part exposed for anyone to take a tumble. A shoulder pavement or something like this, will be constructed is the information received, but the question is, why not put some sort of a signal, a reflector, to tell drivers that the width of the road ends there and drivers should not cross that line. Will not need extra resources, but a sensibility, a common sense that the lives of the motorists should not be put to risk due to the lethargy of the department concerned.