Blame it on Monsoon
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: July 31, 2012 -
The present condition of Imphal-Jiri Road :: Pix - Hueiyen Lanpao
When seasonal monsoon rain fails to come in time, agricultural land across the state remains parch giving sleepless nights to farmers; and when there is even a slight rainfall heavier than the normal drizzling, then there is the fear of water-logging everywhere with the drainage system not working or at best failed from increasing encroachment.
This is a harsh reality that the people in landlocked Manipur have been living with for the last many years.
Regardless of whether one lives in rural or urban area, hills or valley, the annual visitation of monsoon is increasingly being looked upon both as a blessing and a curse.
Until some days back, everyone, from the farmers in the fields to the Chief Minister in his fortified bungalow, was worried over delayed monsoon and its possible resultant impact on food production.
But after the Rain God finally arrived and showered his blessing, various pockets of Imphal are now under water.
It's good that arrival of monsoon, though late, has brought back smile on the faces of our impoverished rain-dependent farmers, but it has led to lot of inconveniences not among the people settling in low lying areas elsewhere but also among the dwellers of the choc-a-bloc rapidly urbanizing unplanned Imphal city.
With most of the existing clogged drainage system not serving its purpose of washing away the waste materials, the denizens as well as the government can now brace up for yet another round of outbreak of seasonal diseases along with receding of the monsoon.
Talking about blaming on monsoon, it's interesting how the deplorable condition of National Highway 37 (Imphal-Jiribam road) always come to haunt the mind of the people and the government during monsoon. The only other time when the said National Highway caught the attention of both is when there is some bandh or blockade along National Highway 2 (Imphal-Dimapur road).
With various social organizations resorting to frequent bandhs or economic blockades along National Highway 37, the need for improving Imphal-Jiribam road as an all-weather second lifeline of the state has always been felt, and accordingly crores of rupees are being pumped in.
In one of his sojourns to Imphal last year, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh assured that development work along Imphal-Jiribam road would be completed by 2013.
Soon after taking over the charge of PWD, a spirited Works Minister Dr Th Ratankumar too conducted a reconnaissance mission to assess the work progress and gave necessary instruction to the officials concerned for expediting the work before the onset of monsoon.
But looking at the slow progress of the work which has resulted in formation of cracks and potholes even along the stretches where black-topping is said to have already completed, it seems the dream of an all-weather second lifeline would remains just a dream, nothing more or nothing less.
Should we blame monsoon for that as well?
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