Beating the Dec 2013 deadline The great Jiri line promise
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 18, 2012 -

Deplorable condition of National Highway 37 (NH-37) Imphal - Jiribam Road :: July 2012 :: Pix - Mongjam Abhiram

Promises, it seems, are made to deceive.

Union Minister of State for Defence Mr. Palam Raju may not have harboured this thought when he delivered yet another promise on the December'2013 deadline set for completing the construction work of the Imphal-Jiribam stretch of National Highway 37, but yet at the same time, there is noth¬ing to suggest that the latest promise is a departure from the earlier ones.

It sounded good, especially, the part when the Union Minister went one step up and announced that no efforts would be spared to ensure that the work is completed before the deadline.

This part certainly sounded pleasing to the ears, but then if promises automatically transform into deliverance then Manipur would have been shining, literally and figuratively speaking.

No nightmare of fuel shortage, 20 hours of power supply, conducive law and order situation, potable water supply, spic and span Imphal and healthy rural areas, excellent educational institutions, the list can go on and on.

However as things stand today majority of the people continue to reel under power cuts, scheduled and unscheduled, those who can afford it continue to buy water through tankers supplied by private enterprises, rural areas continue to be caught in a time warp and Government schools continue to conduct more than two classes in a single class room.

A prime example of a place where promises have overwhelmed the daily existence of the people. Cut to the Imphal-Jiribam stretch of the said highway and it should become clear why the latest promise of Mr Palam Raju need to be taken with a good dose of appetiser.

As things stand today, numerous goods laden trucks are stranded on this highway since many stretches are just not fit for ve¬hicular movement. The highway has been reduced to the status of a wallowing field for buffaloes.

It takes about 4/5 days to cover the 220 or so km stretch.

The Border Roads Organisation continue to receive stinging criticisms not only from the State government but organisations like the 'Trans¬porters' and Drivers' Council for sheer incompetency and lethargy to the task at hand. And disturbingly the emerging politicalisation over the question of who should take up the work along the said highway.

Take all of these together and it should become clear that the latest promise from the Union Minister has come without addressing any of these basic points.

Mr Palam Raju's promise would have sounded more substantial if he had addressed any of these niggling points. Has the BRO come up with any new ap¬proach to go about with the task at hand ?

Or will the same approach work, which, if we may add, has failed all these years ?

Or has the Centre, the State Government and the BRO or the Defence Ministry identified the core issues which have been impeding the smooth progress of the work?

The answer would probably fall in the negative. Promises may be made; a Peter or a Tom can do it too.

The time is well past the days of promises. And it is time the political leadership of the day realises this.