Manipur’s lifeline needs a fresh lease of life

IMPHAL, Jan 9 — Apart from frequent road blockades and other forms of strike, the National Highway-39, the lifeline of Manipur, is still suffering from lack of proper repairing works. Though the national highway is giving life to more than 100 trucks and buses everyday, the signs of neglect on the highway are obvious. The present Advisor to Governor, EN Rammohan, had recently inspected the road along with the higher officials of the State Public Works Departments. However, no visible repairing work has been taken up so far. The travellers are put in an unviable position whenever they have to take this route which connects the rest of the country via Nagaland’s commercial town Dimapur. Considering the pathetic condition of the road, many travellers feel they are putting their lives at stake when they take the route everyday. The portion of the highway between Senapati and Mao in Senapati district alone is full of potholes and loose concretes as the black-topping has worn away since the past couple of years. The road passing through Tadubi, Mao, Maram and Lairouching is also littered with loose concretes. The pathetic condition has also dealt a cruel blow to the vehicles passing on this route. The nerves of both the drivers and passengers are tested whenever they pass over the bridges located between Senapati and Mao areas. The drivers also have a hard time negotiating the holes located on the bridges.

The road from Kangpokpi onwards along the highway is equally deplorable though the condition is a little better between Motbung and Senapati. As the road is passing through the hilly terrain of Senapati district, wherein various Naga communities inhabit, the construction and repairing work of the around 95 km road has been handed over to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) prefer the proper repairing style of the BRO. However, nothing suggests that any work has been taken up so far. The route which connects the States with other neighbouring State has night super buses, goods trucks and other light vehicle services everyday. The passenger and goods service vehicles from Nagaland are also extended up to Mao, the border town of Manipur and Senapati, the district headquarters of Senapati district. The poor condition of the highway means that travelling on this route takes longer than necessary. Accident risk lurks at every blind corner or junctions on the highway. However, the condition becomes much better after the route reaches the Nagaland side. Not to speak about other people, one will certainly understand the condition of the road if he happens to travel along the highway these days. Interestingly, most of the night super tourist bus services from Imphal to Dimapur and Guwahati are now unable to reach their destination in time which have invariably caused much distress to the travellers.