Safety instructions of PWD CE yet to be heeded Concrete roads still a threat to motorists

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Feb 11 : The Manipur Urban Road, Drainage, and Asset Management Improvement Project (MURDAMIP), which is being taken up across Imphal to upgrade asphalt roads to durable concrete roads, continues to pose serious risks in certain areas.
This paper had previously reported on the concrete road project, highlighting concerns that the roads are not only being made narrower but also elevated and uneven, making them unsafe for vehicular movement, particularly for two-wheelers.
In response to complaints about the safety risks posed by the concrete road project, Chongtham Bishwachandra, Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD), had on December 24 last year, instructed contractors concerned to place greater emphasis on safety measures during the project execution.
He had also directed the contractors to take up safety measures and level all roads where MURDAMIP is implemented within a week.
However, despite these instructions, roads remain uneven and unsafe in some areas where the project is being implemented.
Moreover, while plastic poles were initially placed in the overlapping areas between the old asphalt roads and the new concrete roads in some spots, that initiative too has been discontinued.
For instance, there are no visible safety measures along the stretch from Wangkhei Puja Lampak to Kongba Meitei Mayek High School crossing, with the road resembling a stair step.
With the newly constructed concrete road being narrower and about half a foot higher than the asphalt road beneath it, the road remains unsafe.
Along the stretch, some portions have been levelled by residents in front of their gates using earth, but the majority of the area remains uneven.
A group of residents told The Sangai Express that the road from Harikhagok Makhong to Puja Lampak has been levelled, but no similar safety measures have been implemented along Puja Lampak to the Kongba Meitei Mayek High School crossing stretch, where the concrete road project was first introduced in Imphal. This is a complete disregard of the instructions given to the contractors by the Chief Engineer of the PWD, they said, expressing concern that the unevenness of the road has created a serious safety hazard for commuters. They urged the PWD to address the issue and take necessary actions to complete the road construction as soon as possible.
Notably, MURDAMIP, being implemented with an investment of Rs 3,647.23 crore, covers a total road stretch of 547.281 Km in Greater Imphal and the surrounding urban and suburban areas. Of the total expenditure, Rs 2,896.02 crore is a loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), with repayment to be shared by the Centre and the State in a 90:10 ratio.