TODAY -
Shutdowns, blockades: Manipur's main poll issues
IBNLIVE | Posted on Jan 25, 2012 at 03:55pm IST | Imphal:
The common man in Manipur has one big hope from Saturday's assembly polls - a lasting solution to shutdowns. They are still smarting from last year's debilitating 120-day economic blockade, which laid bare the vulnerability of the landlocked northeastern state. The blockades not only lead to sky high prices of food and fuel but also disrupt education, trade and commerce.
P. Kuki, a school teacher, told IANS: "The student population of the entire state has suffered due to bandhs. There are some people who can afford to send their children to Delhi and other places for higher studies. But for an average person like me it is difficult. I cannot afford it." Petrol was sold at Rs.400 per litre in the grey market, while a single LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinder came for Rs.3,000. In 2010 too the state saw a blockade of around 60 days.
Geographically, Manipur is like an amphitheatre where the valley is surrounded by hills. Nagas, Kukis and some other tribal communities are in majority in the hills. Two highways -- NH 39, which connects Manipur with Nagaland in the north, and NH-53 that connects Manipur to the rest of India through Jiribam on the Manipur-Assam border -- pass through the hills.
The Congress' poll manifesto promises to construct an alternate road to connect Manipur with the rest of the country.
Polls to the 60-member assembly will be held on Saturday.
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* This Post is uploaded on January 25, 2012
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