Khemchand's bus & laity

Free Thinker *

Public transport services on the Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati route resumed on August 21 2026 :: Pix - TSE

Whether you like him or not, whether he is "beautiful" or not, one thing is certain : Shri Khemchand is making every possible effort to bring the State back on track. The passenger bus service between Imphal and Guwahati has resumed after three years, with buses carrying passengers, including many Meiteis, reaching Guwahati safe and sound. Hopefully, such journeys will now become a regular feature.

A big thank you to all the ethnic communities residing along National Highway No. 2 for ensuring safe passage for common people. Proper security arrangements, combined with support from local leaders, made the journey possible without a hitch.

Add to that the Chief Minister's tireless efforts backed by his committed team, and the results speak for themselves. Hats off, too, to the new DGP, who matches the incumbent CM in daring. What a combination, Bhalla ji is smiling after a long time.

The common people of the State, across all ethnic groups, will be considerably relieved by this development, given how expensive air travel has become. Many say the airfare between Imphal and Delhi is actually cheaper than a flight to Guwahati alone. A regular passenger bus service between Imphal and Guwahati, via Mao, Kohima, and Dimapur, would be a welcome relief for everyone.

Guwahati has long been the gateway to the Northeast : a commercial centre, an educational hub, and a preferred destination for medical treatment. People travel there for business, studies, healthcare, and as a stopover for onward journeys to other parts of the country by train. Boarding a train from Guwahati remains far more convenient than from anywhere else in the region, thanks to its superior connectivity.

The restoration of bus service between Guwahati and Imphal brings back memories of our college days. We studied in Delhi, and would typically travel by bus from Imphal to Guwahati, then catch a train onward to Delhi. In those days, there was only one airline, Indian Airlines, and as students, we couldn't afford air travel even with the student concession.

Occasionally, we did fly from Imphal to Delhi on Indian Airlines, using the student concession, for which we needed a valid identity card, one that also had to be endorsed by an officer at the airline office before tickets were issued.

Flying from Imphal to Delhi was rare during our student years. I took that flight once : A hopping journey via Guwahati, Bagdogra, and Patna, finally reaching Delhi after more than five hours in the air. Children from affluent families often flew, but most students, coming from middle-class fami- lies, travelled by bus and train, flying only as far as Guwahati before boarding a train.

Those bus journeys were genuinely enjoyable. We would set off from Gandhi Avenue or Gandhi Memorial Hall early in the morning, around 6.30 or 7. By noon, we would reach Mao, where many passengers stopped for lunch, tea, a short walk, or a cigarette during the half-hour break.

The next major stop was Dimapur, and by the time we reached Guwahati, it would be dinner time. The full journey from Imphal to Guwahati usually took 15 to 16 hours.

It is a genuinely nostalgic moment to see our buses running once again on the highway connecting Imphal and Guwahati, arguably the most popular and most travelled route in Manipur.

MSRTC also once plied services from Imphal to Guwahati and Imphal to Dimapur, but once private operators entered the market, demand for State transport buses declined. In our student days, companies like Blue Hills and Green Valley were well known. State Government bus fares were cheaper than private ones, yet passengers still preferred private buses, largely because they were better maintained.

Interestingly, Blue Hills and Green Valley also plied services from Churachand-pur, via Imphal, then on to Kohima, Dimapur, and finally Guwahati, and buses ran in the opposite direction as well, connecting Guwahati to all these towns as far as Churachandpur. Buses departing from Guwa-hati typically left in the evening.

The reason for this evening departure was simple: trains from Delhi and other destinations, the Northeast Express, the Brahmaputra Mail, even the Rajdhani, usually arrived in Guwahati in the evening or late evening. Buses would wait for passengers arriving by train, often delaying departure if the trains ran late.

The resumption of passenger bus services on National Highway No. 2 is a blessing for common people. The State Government and security agencies, including the police, along with the public living along the highway, must work together to keep this route open — not only for trucks, but for passengers as well.