Of pot holed roads and others : Surviving Manipur
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 18, 2025 -

Keeping aside the ongoing Kuki-Meitei clash which is galloping towards the two years mark, Manipur still has miles to go on all other fronts.

And it has been like this for decades, meaning the 15 years rule of the Congress did nothing worthwhile to put Manipur on the track of development and the BJP has followed suit, defeating the very slogan it had coined, ‘Double Engine’ Government.

The ongoing ethnic clash should not be any alibi for the pathetic road conditions that one sees and this should be understood in the context of Imphal, the capital of the State, which was at one point of time put on the map of a Smart City.

A walk down any market place in the capital city would testify how the talk of a Smart City has proven to be nothing but hot air, aimed at fooling the people.

Apart from the filth and piled up rotting garbage that one sees, all roads in Imphal are today dotted with potholes and more potholes.

The driving sense of the people has only made things worse for everyone with no one willing to learn.

Overtaking from the left, honking senselessly, yapping on the mobile while driving etc have all come to define driving in Imphal and making things unacceptable is the presence of traffic cops on duty who seem to be more interested in flagging down anyone who appears to have come to Imphal on some urgent work from the hill districts, rather than cracking down on those who yap on the mobile phone while driving or who does not hesitate in overtaking from the left.

This in short is the nightmare that one is constrained to face on a daily basis, once one steps out for some work in Imphal.

The less said the better. Not the first time that this has been commented upon and this would certainly not be the last either.

The only road stretches that are smooth may be said to be the one from MU Gate at Canchipur till Kakching Lamkhai and from Khongnang Ani Karak traffic point till the Imphal Airport.

Other than this driving through the roads in Imphal at any given point of time needs extreme expertise in negotiating through the numerous potholes that have come to dot all the roads.

A drive down any leirak is all that more problematic.

There could be many reasons for the roads falling apart, including the heavy downpour within a span of some days in 2024 and the bonfires lit everywhere on the road during the protests at the peak of the Meitei-Kuki clash, but what is expected is for the Government to take up the repair work.

As stated in an earlier commentary, those who come under the VIP and VVIP tag of the Government may not experience the discomfort of riding over the numerous potholes for they all travel in chauffeured fancy SUVs and MPVs but not everyone can afford these fancy cars and this point should not blow over the heads of the suited, booted class of people who come under the tag of ‘officers’ and ‘political netas’ and the ‘moneyed class’.

The ISBT has been in a state of total disuse after the Covid pandemic.

The Sangai Express has already reported on the pathetic state of the ISBT more than once after the pandemic blew over, but even today the Government has not taken up anything to address this.

It is now three years since the pandemic tapered off but there is nothing to show that any work has been taken up to repair the dilapidated state of ISBT.

Given the state of the bus terminus, ticket counters for taxis and buses plying on important routes such as Imphal-Ukhrul are opened just outside the parking slot in the ISBT.

Inter-State buses and Wingers which take the Imphal to Dimapur, Imphal to Guwahati and Imphal to Shillong routes now park at North AOC, despite the absence of any Meitei travellers.

The ongoing clash has certainly taken a heavy toll on Manipur but there are certain basic things which cannot be ignored and the ongoing clash certainly cannot be the excuse for the potholes filled roads that have now come to define all roads and leiraks at Imphal.

Something has to give for everything has failed, and this is where it becomes important for Raj Bhavan to do something which can at least make life more liveable for the people of Manipur and Imphal.