Bad road adds to traffic woes
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, September 03 2016: In addition to over-crowding of passenger carriers like diesel autos and Tata magic vans, bad condition of the busy road from Keishampat to Wahengbam Leikai has been aggravating the woes of passengers as well as the public.

Even though people have been enduring the bad road condition and the resultant difficulties, it appears that PWD has so far not bothered to repair the road.

PWD may not have the fund necessary for repairing the road which is just about 1 Km in length.

But there is a general observation that Government employees of different departments who are stationed along the road have been taking money from passenger carriers unofficially.

Traffic Circus

Commenting on the campaign being undertaken by The Sangai Express regarding traffic congestion and traffic management in Imphal city, one key functionary of the United Diesel Auto Owners and Drivers Union, RIMS, said, on condition of anonymity, that they (Government authorities) see diesel autos as ATM booths which can be used for drawing Rs 10 currency notes.

If this is the case, one can imagine how much money they can collect from all the diesel autos operating in and around Imphal city in a day.

If the authorities namely TCP personnel, Motor Vehicle officials, Police and VDF as well as the time keepers stationed at parking lots see diesel autos as ATM booths, they would have been collecting a substantial amount of money in a day.

If the money thus collected is used for maintaining and repairing roads, the roads would be in superb conditions.

All the difficulties faced by commuters and travellers on the road from Keishampat to Wahengbam Leikai can be addressed effectively.

Although it is said that Manipur has limited resources, many sectors which can be used for generation of the State's resources are being wasted.

It is said that checking of passenger carriers like diesel autos and Magic Vans is always associated with money.

The authority concerned needs to look into the matter.

If such unethical practices can be controlled, the State's resource generation capacity can be enhanced to some extent, he said.

It can also help in improving roads and other transport infrastructure, he added.