Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, September 10, 2009:
Repairing of the road stretch from Palace Gate Traffic Island to the turning of Wangkhei Ningthem Pukhri has been left undone as the fund sanctioned for the purpose of improving the road from Palace Gate-RDS Crossing upto Kongba was not sufficient enough.
On the other hand, lack of co-ordination between the PHED and the Works Department in connection with laying the pipeline of the Imphal Sewerage Project from Chingmeirong to Kanglapat stretch along National Highway 39 have left the road elevated at various portions that may endangered the lives of the people.
According to reliable sources from the Works Department, a sum of Rs 1 crore had been sanctioned under the Special Plan Assistance in 2007-08 for the purpose of improving the condition of the road stretch from Palace Gate-RDS Crossing to Kongba including drainage construction and black-topping.
However, as the sanctioned amount was not sufficient enough, the road stretch from Palace Gate Traffic Island upto the turning of Ningthem Pukhri has been left untouched.
There is also no immediate plan for improving the condition of the said road stretch.
When contacted to find out whether there was any lapses in the estimation of the project cost, a top official of the Works Department declined to comment.
On the other hand, lack of co-ordination between the PHE Department and the Works Department has come to the fore yet again in the light of leaving some portions of the National Highway 39 from Chingmeirong to Kanglapat stretch elevated by atleast half a foot after laying the pipeline of the Sewerage Project.
While the officials of the PHED maintained that elevation of the road was in conformity with the instruction given by the Works Department, officials in the Works Department have asserted that the Department had given no such instructions at any time.
However, leaving the road uneven and elevated at various portions have caught the attention of the public who feared that this may cause accidents endangering the lives of the travellers.
Still, it is not clear which of these two Departments would take up the responsibility making the road even.