Of piling garbages and potholed roads : Defacing Imphal
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 13, 2024 -

huge mound of garbage piled up by the roadside at Nagamapal :: Pix - TSE

The four column picture of a huge mound of garbage piled up by the roadside at Nagamapal and which appeared on page 1 of the English edition of The Sangai Express on the August 12, 2024 edition should tell its own story.

A story which many in Manipur will identify with but true to the characteristics of the people, there has been no uproar, not even a squeak of a protest against the indifference of the authority concerned.

While taking the picture of the huge mound of garbage in the evening of August 11, many commuters, especially those coming on two wheelers could be seen desperately covering their nose and a chat with some auto rickshaw drivers who were waiting for passengers near the pile of dirt threw immense light on how they have resigned themselves to the manner in which everything associated with the understanding of civic sense has been clobbered royally.

Is this what is meant by Swachh Bharat, especially in the face of the fact that there is a BJP Government at Imphal as well as at New Delhi and this term gained currency under the supervision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

What has happened to the spirit of the numerous photo-ops sessions wherein political netas used to take the broom and sweep the streets ?

No answer is expected but the huge mound of dirt and garbage just by the side of the extremely busy Nagamapal road has prompted this question.

Dig a little deeper into the mound of garbage at Nagamapal and one will come across the utter indifference or neglect of the authority concerned.

With the Lamdeng Apunba Lup closing the approach road to the Solid Waste Management Plant to protest the pathetic road condition, Nagamapal became the choice of place where the garbage should be dumped.

This is the story so far and giving perfect company to the huge mound of garbage is the pathetic condition of Nagamapal road.

Anyone who has taken a ride on the road stretch will understand how the understanding of ‘pathetic road’ has been given a totally new dimension with potholes as huge as craters on the Moon !

Best piece of advice, ‘Avoid taking this road’ qualified by another line, ‘Do not take this route at all if you are driving in the night’.

As one of the young auto drivers said during a conversation with The Sangai Express ‘The double engine Government may best be exemplified by the double combination of the piled up garbage and the potholed road stretch.’

On the day the four column picture of the garbage was carried, another story was also carried which again point to the total failure of ensuring basic amenities to the people.

As the Manipur International Youth Centre pointed out, the 1.5 kilometre stretch from Tangkhul Baptist Church at Lamphel to Shija Hospital represents a tale which seems to come straight out from a horror film.

Move aside Alfred Hitchcock, Manipur is here to provide the perfect road stretch to add more chill to a horror film that may be in the pipeline.

Here too again one may look at the understanding of a double blow in the context of the fact that when it rains it submerges the said road stretch, hiding the numerous potholes under the water.

Any driver who manages to navigate his or her vehicle safely across this treacherous road stretch can either be said to be very, very familiar with all the pits that lurk under the water or is one who is extremely lucky.

For confirmation take a ride across the road stretch is the suggestion, The Sangai Express would like to offer to the people.

Everyone knows Manipur is going through a very critical phase and the Government needs all the support and co-operation of the people, but when the critical phase is floated as an alibi to cover up the potholes on the roads and blow the stench away from the piling garbage then it will not exactly pass muster with the people.