In line with Trans Asian Highway, LEP Imphal by pass proposal
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 16, 2012 -

The Imphal by pass proposal put forward by the State Public Works Department is welcome and should be seen in the context of two important points-the growing traffic menace in the heart of the capital city and the Trans-Asian Highway planned in conjunction with the Look East Policy of the Government of India.

Plans however can go awry, as exemplified by the failure of a single firm coming forward to bid in the tender floated in the last financial year, and this is a point which the State Government should keep in mind while proposing the by pass proposal to the Centre.

Law and order has been cited as one of the possible reasons for the tender to draw a blank but subscribing this to only this factor would be missing the woods for the trees. In the first place, the State Government should demonstrate that it is ready to go ahead with the ambitious plan.

Diverting the flow of heavy trucks along National Highway 2 from Khonghampat to Khamran to Langjing and after crossing Imphal-Jiri line and Tiddim line proceed towards Langthabal and then ultimately connect it to NH-2 along the Imphal-Moreh stretch. This is a rough sketch but in general this sounds impressive.

A lot of work still needs to be done. Apart from waiting to see which firm would be interested in wading into the ‘slush’ that is Manipur, a thorough survey work too needs to be done. How minutely the PWD has worked out its proposal remains to be seen, but such a by-pass is something which has long been felt necessary.

There is no point in letting heavy, goods laden trucks make a beeline for the heart of Imphal city in the face of the traffic chaos and the congestion of the capital.

Apart from coming out with a new route for the heavy trucks, the by pass proposal will also entail the relocation of a good number of godowns that pepper the heart of the capital city.

Once the new route, presently pegged at 27 kms long comes about, this would mean the emergence of a new attraction point, diverting business activities away from the heart of the capital city which in turn would go a long way in addressing the growing traffic chaos and snarls.

Commercial centres can come up along this route at different locations and the cascading effect could mean drawing people away from the present commercial centres to some other places.

The by pass proposal also perfectly fits into the larger scheme of the Trans-Asian Highway which has been on the radar of New Delhi under the Look East Policy.

However as we have noted, the by pass is still at the incubation stage, and it remains to be seen how sincerely the PWD and the State Government will pursue the matter with the Centre.

Apart from this, the inconveniences that the people have to put up with during the implementation period of the said by pass should also be kept in mind.

As things stand today, the Imphal Sewerage Project has thrown the daily movement of the people into jeopardy for the last five/six years and if at all a lesson has to be learnt from this project then it is to remember that projects, however beneficial it may be to the people, can have a down side, something along the line of the law of diminishing returns.

The people of Imphal, especially the people living along Uripok line and the people who earn a livelihood by selling their wares on BT Road, have already experienced the wrong the side of the BT Flyover which took ages to complete. Meeting deadlines, minimising the inconveniences that the people may have to face in the event of any development projects should also be taken into consideration.

Development always comes with a price, this is a given. But when the price that is extracted from the people is more out of sheer apathy and incompetence than this would be unacceptable to the people.

Since 2006, a whole lot of people, especially those living in Lamphel area have been reeling under the never ending exercise of digging, filling and again digging the roads that connect them to the outside world, thanks to the Sewerage project.

The scars of such a exercise still exist prominently on almost all the roads leading towards Lamphel and with the sky beginning to open up, their annual woes, since 2006, has returned to haunt them.

This is one important point which the Government should keep in mind, even as they work out the finer aspects of the proposed Imphal by pass.