Shifted but no place to stay : Makeshift sheds at Lamphel
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: August 05 2017 -

Six years is a long time, a very long time.

And this is more so when it comes to the question of not constructing the needed shelter or shed for the people who have been evacuated or moved to a different site.

It was with the noble objective of providing parking space to passenger vehicles that the market shed at Nagamapal was dismantled sometime in 2011 and the vendors were told to move to Lamphel.

Not a bad idea at all, for apart from providing the needed parking space to passenger vehicles, this also fell in line with the move to decongest the market areas of Imphal.

To The Sangai Express this move went well with the continued campaign to look beyond the immediate commercial areas of Imphal and see how to geographically expand trading activities.

Yes the intention was good, but as is most often the case, the Government conveniently overlooked the need to provide the needed place for the evicted women vendors to properly ply their trade.

Six years down the line and the women traders who have been shoved out from Nagamapal have to make do in makeshift structures at Lamphel, in front of Shanker Talkies.

And they have been plying their trade in this state for six years. The indifference of the Government is writ large here.

Take a look at the market, or the make shift market sheds put up at Lamphel in front of Shanker Talkies and one will get an idea of how insensitive the Government has been.

It is like kicking out someone from their house and not bothering to find an alternative accommodation for them.

The Congress Government which came roaring back to power after the 2012 Assembly election just slept over the matter for the next five years but now it is the duty of the BJP led Government to seriously look into the cry raised by the Lamphel Super Market Development Joint Action Committee.

Here arises some pertinent questions. Where did the tin roofing used in the market shed at Nagamapal go after the same was dismantled back in 2011 ?

Why can’t the same be used in constructing a new market shed at Lamphel ?

The question is late, very late, but worth asking now as a cry has been raised to construct a market shed at Lamphel.

Apart from the make shift sheds which vegetable vendors have to do with to sell their wares, a look around the ramshackle sheds will leave no one in doubt that the Government has forgotten that there is a market place here serving the needs of quite a large number of people.

Garbage piled everywhere and it is a wonder that no serious epidemic has broken out from the rotting garbage and the nauseating odour that the rotting garbage emits around the area.

The Government need to seriously look into the demand raised by the Lamphel Super Market Development Joint Action Committee for this is not only about some vegetable vendors earning their livelihood but can also provide a good alternative to the already crowded Ima Keithel and BT Road.

Expand the market places and the BJP led Government need to demonstrate that it is not fixated with the already crowded Imphal Keithel but is ready to explore new avenues.

The first step towards this end will be to set up a proper market place at Lamphel.