Setting up a new Imphal Municipal Council
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: June 07 2011 -

POLLS TO the IMC are over, the results are declared, the Congress has emerged victorious with an absolute majority, closed door deliberations are on to form a new board.

Rumour has it then are four contenders for the top spot the chairperson, rumour also has it, it has been short listed to two, while the MPCC chief has declared openly that the party is striving to agree on a consensus candidate. It has been good, though, to see many young new faces as councillors. A lot will be expected by them.

The real problem for the new IMC is if it finds itself a council playing a perfunctory role, with the government snatching away all legitimate powers invested on it. That will severely back track the development of Imphal.

It will mean that the only city in the state will continue to be administered by people, who by and large, come from rural and semi urban areas.

To a great extent, it will be up to the recently elected councillors to stand their ground and see to it that they receive what is due to them. If they fall prey to corruption and machinations to usurp power it will then be a real tragedy.

People could ask, what is the issue? The issue is straight forward. Imphal, as a city, faces certain problems which are by products of a congested habitation by a huge number of people within a constricted space. To touch on a few examples.

Transportation in Imphal caters to lakhs of commuters each day, routing of these public transport, air pollution and parking space cause big headaches to those who are trying to address these problems.

Public toilets form another issue. It is generally assumed, that with the floating population which arrives each day at Imphal, the total day time population is around 6 lakhs. Seen from this context, public toilets become a big issue.

Drainage is another aspect to be looked into. Imphal’s drains with all their modifications and renovations still cannot effectively drain away storm waters. Then there is that perennial problem of piling of garbage and refuse in open spaces. There is no need to elaborate on this, the powerful stench is an overriding reminder to us all.

If the government refuses to take full stock of the situation it will not be able to realise that Imphal’s problems are best understood by Imphalites. Further it might instead view the IMC funds as something up for grabs.

It should instead concentrate on devolving powers to the IMC, as it has been doing so in the case of the ADCs. Its early times yet, so let us all wait and see what develops.

On the other hand if the newly elected councillors are already considering of ways and means to soil IMC funds with dirty hands what are we to do. One solution could be to start boo clubs all over Imphal, and whenever these people make an appearance then we could all boo together and add another source of pollution.