Town planning - A need of the hour

Dhanarani Rajkumari *

Ningol Chakkouba Shopping at Ema Keithel on October 29 2016 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam

The city is bombarded with people from every walk of life. With the migration of people towards the city for a better livelihood and a more refined ways of living, so to say, the place has become congested with very little space for better living conditions, both a boon and a curse.

Boon, because it gives people a source of livelihood, and curse because the land is limited to accommodate the people.

Such can be sighted at every corner of the city, Imphal, and its outskirts. Being a fast developing city and appropriate steps like broadening the roads have been taken up, yet the vehicles plying on the road is multiplying.

In spite of very little space available for driving, yet the vehicles parking on the road is worth a watch.

The vehicles on the road literally squeeze to drive pass the congestion. In areas where important government offices are stationed, parking as well as crossing the area poses a big concern for the people.

The keithel area is where chaos strikes everyone. On important occasions and big festivals, there is no space even for pedestrian leaving aside the vehicles cutting across the crowd.

Being the main market, khwairamband bazaar, in the mainland Imphal, needs a facelift. Another important and a cause for concern is the plying of heavy vehicles amongst the congestion of the marketplace.

According to the website 'www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in.' and is quoted, "It is estimated that about 8000 - 9000 vehicles per year are increasing and therefore by 2030, the vehicular population of the State would be around 4 - 5 lakhs whereas the total road length and road density of the State may not have significant rise/increase accept Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) roads" .

This news is indeed alarming. One can only imagine the scenario if steps are not taken up till this time. It definitely calls for a better town planning.

A responsible government with the help from the people and other non-governmental organizations will ease the plight of the people and avoidance of unwanted accident causing incidents.

The recent news on the Sangai Express to beautify khwairamband bazaar, an initiative taken up by the new government is worth applause.

There is definitely a need for restructuring the city, whether it is construction of parking lots or shifting important government offices to appropriate places that will not restrict the normalcy of the people.

Another option can be to divert the heavy vehicle and public transport vehicle to ply on a different route and also providing them a proper parking space.

The small part of the big picture is that attention needs to be shifted towards streamlining the flow of vehicles in the city and structuring the limited land resources to accommodate the increasing population.

It's high time we wake ourselves up towards a dawn of city light!!!