Many roads crumble, no sign of repair
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 08 2020:
Although many key roads of greater Imphal areas have deteriorated to a sorry state, there is no sign of repairing them within the current working season.
Haobam Marak- Ningthemcha Karong Road which connects Tidim Road with Mayai Lambi and Mongshangei School Leirak which connects Ningthem-cha Karong to Imphal Airport are some of the important roads of greater Imphal areas.
Some other key roads which are in a very bad shape are Thangmeiband Watham Leirak, Dingko Road, Lamphel police station road, RIMS Road and Khoyathong Road.
It has been quite a long time that Haobam Marak-Ningthemcha Karong Road has been languishing in a highly dilapidated condition but there is no sign of repairing/re-constructing the road any time soon.
After an RCC culvert broke down near their meeting point, Tidim Road and Konjeng Leikai road have been almost disconnected.
Even today, there is no sign of re-constructing the collapsed RCC culvert.
People settled along Tidim Road have been taking a longer route through Mongshangei if they must go to Mayai Lambi.
Even farmers from Changangei area are compelled to take the Mongshangei road.
At the same time, many motor vehicle workshops and carpentry houses have been paralysed following the collapse of the RCC culvert.
Re-construction of the RCC culvert measuring six metres in breadth and four metres in length would not cost more than Rs 20 lakh.
A group of people who were harvesting paddy not far away from the collapsed culvert told this reporter that the State Government has been implementing certain development projects and welfare programmes while focusing most of its resources in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
It shows that the Government is committed to implement development programmes of dire necessity, they said and added that construction or repairing of worn out roads should be treated as matters of dire necessity.
Saying that a large number of people have been facing many difficulties since the RCC culvert collapsed, they urged the Government to re-construct the culvert as soon as possible.
Even though the Government and its agencies are aware of the highly dilapidated condition of Dingko Road which connects Imphal-Mao highway to Lamlong Keithel at Khongnang Karak, there is no indication of repairing the road as yet.
Dingko Road is a very short one but its entire length is dotted with large potholes.
The road running in front of Lamphel police station has also deteriorated to a pathetic condition.
However, no one can say with any degree of certainty how long the Government would take to repair it.
The busy RIMS Road along which sick people are taken to RIMS was expanded some years back but it appears that the road was expanded for the purpose of providing parking space, not for easing vehicular traffic.
Apart from occupation of a considerable breadth of the road by stationary vehicles, RIMS Road is now dotted with large potholes.
Although the Government is fully aware of how congested RIMS Road is during peak hours, it has not yet bothered to remove the stationary vehicles or fill the potholes.
Even though one side of Khoyathong Road had been black-topped quite a long time back, the other half has been literally abandoned.
While the other half which has not been black-topped is dotted with potholes, the black-topped half has started breaking down.
Now is the working season but there is no sign of repairing these worn out roads, culverts etc.
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