Give more teeth to IMC call : Sorrow of Imphal
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 30, 2022 -

In a way it is interesting.

In Khumukcham Joykisan, Manipur has a sort of a veteran political figure having represented Thangmeiband Assembly Constituency for four times on the trot, that is if one takes into account the by election of 2015.

A sort of a veteran having represented the said AC since 2012 without a break.

Equally interesting too is first time MLA, Nishikanta Singh Sapam representing Keishamthong Assembly Constituency.

But first to set the record straight, The Sangai Express has dragged in the name of Nishikanta not because he is the owner of this newspaper house but as an MLA representing Keishamthong Assembly Constituency and for making a mark in his maiden speech on the floor of the Assembly.

This is important for the readers to note and keep in mind while they go through this commentary.

Here it is significant to note that none of the two MLAs took pot shots at the BJP led Government, having extended support to the present regime, but both brought out points worthy of some deep introspection.

In his address to the Assembly, the first time MLA, touched on a very, very important point.

The Government may have banned single use plastic, but if it does not address the question of disposing waste material, it is an open ended question on whether the ban on single use plastic will have any profound impact on the clogging of waterways.

This is where the role of the Imphal Municipal Corporation becomes important and crucial.

Even before the MLA from Keishamthong AC delivered his maiden speech on the floor of the Assembly, it was not uncommon to see and read updates on social media sites, such as Facebook, from many bemoaning that the garbage collection truck has not come for days.

For a Government which seems to take a keen interest on what the citizens post on the social media, it is surprising that this has not been taken note of.

If the New Delhi Municipal Corporation and Delhi Municipal Corporation can press their pick up trucks into service every single day to collect the wastes generated by its 3.22 crore population, what is stopping the IMC from doing the same at Imphal which has a population of only about 6 lakh, as the Keishamthong AC MLA put it.

Forget everyday, there are times when the pick up truck fails to make an appearance even once a week.

This is the question that has been raised and the IMC and the Government ought to respond to this.

Lack of resources is one point which the IMC may use as an alibi, and this is where the suggestion from the Keishamthong AC MLA to effectively collect octroi tax, parking tax, house tax, property tax gains importance.

The suggestion that the taxes be revised to keep in sync with the time should not blow over the heads of the Government.

A solid point has been delivered and the Government should seriously study the suggestions that have been placed on the floor of the Assembly.

In other words make the IMC effective and increasing its resources is one way to go about it.

When was the last time that land and property tax was assessed and revised in Manipur ?

Only the Government can answer this but the need to look into this point cannot be overemphasised.

Equally interesting was the call from Kh Joykisan to scrap the Imphal Sewerage Project.

Launched in 2004 and even after 18 years Manipur is yet to see its benefits.

Rather it has been more a question of roads being laid and dug up the next day or a couple of days later to lay the pipes of the said Project.

For those who return home late in the the night after their day's duty, it also means running into a dead end while taking the route which they just took earlier in the afternoon !

Truly the Sorrow of Imphal.

Lay the road, dig it up to lay the pipes for the project and the circus goes on and this has been on for the last 18 years.

Behind the call 'scrap the project' is the message that not enough is being done to make the sewerage project work.