Tamei bus skids, narrow escape for passengers
Source: Chronicle News Service

Kangpokpi, October 03 2022: More than 50 passengers and drivers of a Tamei bus had a miraculous escape as the vehicle they were traveling in nearly skidded off a slippery section of the road on Monday.

According to the IT Road Joint Monitoring Development Committee, no passengers or crew sustained injury.

The incident occurred at Manedara around 9:30 am as the bus took a shortcut on the state's oldest highway Imphal-Tamenglong road, which passes through Manedara, Lamchok and connects the main highway at Tujang Vaichong village.

The passenger bus had to take the shortcut constructed under PMGSY as a section of the main highway between Thonglang Akutpa and Songjang Pakang was not fit for traffic owing to a landslide that had occurred in the past.

The bus reportedly swerved uncontrollably in the middle of the road and its front side almost fell into the deep gorge.

In a viral video, passengers including aged people were seen getting down from the bus to a safer place.

It may be recalled that multiple landslides along the Imphal-Tamenglong road at different locations over the past few years till this monsoon had threatened the safety of vehicles and passengers.

It was the IT Road Joint Monitoring Development Committee that shouldered all the responsibilities by clearing debris of the landslides for the vehicle to ply and transport passengers and commodities.

However, according to JMDC chairman Lutngam Manlun, owing to a lack of funds they could no longer clear the debris in between Thonglang Akutpa and Songjang Pakang villages.

He continued that the JMDC has already spent a huge amount of money in clearing the landslide debris and it still has a heavy debt of more than Rs 3 lakh.

Had there been funds, the remaining landslide debris would have been cleared and the bus not taken the shortcut, he added.

He then appealed to the MLAs concerned, the state government, and the authorities concerned to seriously look into the hardships faced by the JMDC while rendering selfless service to the public and to also pay serious attention to the deplorable road conditions.

Incessant rainfall lashed Kangpokpi district including the Twilang area over the past few days but there have been no major damage to properties and roads.

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