Filling up potholes, repairing roads The two year itch

Imphal is being decked up and why not. It is not very often that the Prime Minister of the country comes visiting this remote corner of the country and more so after a ‘wait of more than two years.’ Still not very clear what the Prime Minister will have to say when he lands here, but Raj Bhavan is leaving nothing to chance that the visit goes off well. Already the Airport road is being brushed up and wooden ‘fencing’ is being set up just next to the footpath. Potholes are being filled from the airport to Keishampat, but it is anybody’s guess when the roadsides would be dug up again to lay a pipe or two for a project or two. Anyway the ride from Keishampat to the Airport today is smooth and one is left wondering why the potholes could not have been filled up earlier. In fact, roadsides which were dug up to lay a pipe or two for some work were left like that with just the mandatory act of filling it up with some loose earth. Thankfully with the PM set to arrive here and likely to take the road from Kangla to the Airport on his departure, the dug up portions have been filled up with bull dozers put to work to smoothen it out. The work on the roads is so far commendable one would say and even the ‘smooth’ bump by the side of Thambal Shanglen and which has been in that state for months has been evened out and today offers a smooth ride to all motorists. This much is visible to the common people of the land. It is however not known what the Prime Minister will have to say once he arrives here. Would it be a case of the people being given the opportunity to air their grievances to the Prime Minister or would it be another day wherein the Prime Minister delivers a talk, a public address, and leaves ? Hard to say but it is undeniable that the focus of the people is on the scheduled visit of the Prime Minister. No one expects a magic formula to be spelt out, and the least one expects from him is to spell out something concrete that would help Manipur take the steps towards normalcy. On paper Delhi may be under the impression that enough has already been done, given that the re-opening of the highways has been announced and the SoO pact has been extended. However Delhi could not have been blind to what the SoO groups, the Zomi Council and the Kuki-Zo Council have had to say on the re-opening of the National Highways. How much the Prime Minister has been kept abreast of the developments after the ‘pact’ was inked at Delhi some days back is anybody’s guess but this is a question that should be raised. Has Raj Bhavan done that or has the Union Home Ministry kept the Prime Minister in the loop on developments which the people think are crucial ? These are questions which must be dogging the minds of everyone and whether these questions remain or not will depend to a large extent on what the Prime Minister has got to say when he addresses the people at Kangla and also at Churachandpur.
If one goes by the schedule then the Prime Minister is expected to be here for just a few hours and this is where it becomes important for Manipur to be ready to deal with the question, after he leaves what ? Other than the ‘Delhi pact’ which talked about re-opening the National Highways, what steps has Raj Bhavan taken up to ensure that the contents of the pact are adhered to ? Other than this, Raj Bhavan cannot be blind to the trade embargo which is in force on the National Highways and the question is, what steps have been taken up to deal with the situation. Has the Prime Minister been sounded on this ? Important this poser is, for when the Prime Minister lands here the embargo would still be in force and Manipur is being made to pay the price for a course of action taken up by Delhi. The United Naga Council cannot be blind to this fact, for afterall the decision to fence the international border was taken by the Union Home Ministry and not Imphal. The revised FMR too has been effected by the Union Home Ministry and not Imphal. But it is not Delhi which will suffer because of the trade embargo but the people here. It also stands that it is the Naga community which has lost the most and is the first to be affected by the influx from across the border. A fact that cannot be wished away with the wave of the hand and surely UNC knows this better than anyone else. It is against this reality-a trade embargo and the highway issue over which the SoO groups have been talking in two tongues that the Prime Minister is set to land here.