Leaving it to the mercy of Nature : Pray to the weather God
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: February 04, 2013 -

A Ministerial team assessing condition of NH-37 during the tour of the Imphal-Jiribam section :: Pix - TSE

It is cold because it is not hot.

This is the logic that the Border Roads Organisation seems to be offering.

The BRO's line that there would be little difficulty for the Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar car rally to pass through the unrepaired stretch of 26 kms along the Imphal-Jiribam line if it does not rain, falls in line with this observation.

Slushy when it rains and dusty when it doesn't.

Leaving it to the mercy of nature and BRO certainly cannot be blamed or held accountable, for who can control nature ! Comical and tragic at the same time.

That the said stretch of road has not been repaired as the Ministry concerned has not given its sanction is a clever alibi indeed.

But then coming up with alibis has been the practise for decades, as far as the work along the Imphal-Jiribam line is concerned.

Given the situation, the next best thing for Mr Okram Ibobi and his men to do would be to hold a mass praying session to plead with the weather God not to open the sky, when the rally trundles into Manipur, via National Highway-37 on February 26 ! February is generally a dry month, and whether it rains or not, the grim reality is, Manipur will be opening her doors to the participants from three foreign countries with a stretch that may just fit the bill of an inter-village road ! Hardselling Manipur to the international community cannot get more farcical than this.

The BRO is indeed the institution tasked with the work of looking after the Imphal-Jiribam line and they work independently of the State Government.

This is the bare fact, but this cannot be the excuse for the State Government to wash its hands off the entire mess.

When has the Chief Minister himself personally inspected the work progress along the second lifeline of the State ?

The lack of political willingness and intent of purpose is glaringly real.

It is not only about the BCIM car rally but also about the second lifeline of the State.

What stopped the State Government from approaching the relevant Ministry at Delhi to repair the said stretch before the car rally moves into Manipur ? In the past, the State Government, led by the Chief Minister, had minced no words in expressing its dissatisfaction over the tardy pace of work along this highway by the BRO.

As things have unfolded, all the verbal diatribes were nothing but some sort of a blame game.

That it has not progressed from this extremely juvenile approach is there for one and all to see.

The lack of focus is also further boosted by the fact that the State Government has not deemed it necessary to appoint one of the Parliamentary Secretaries to solely monitor and look after the Imphal-Jiribam line.

A damning revelation of the skewed priority on the part of the Government.

Time to move beyond the blame game and cooking up alibis.

What did the BRO authority do to move the Ministry concerned to sanction something to repair the stretch of 26 kms ? This is the working season, as Government channels are prone to say, and if a stretch of 26 kms cannot be repaired ahead of an international car rally, then rest assured, National Highway 37 will continue to be caught in a time warp for years to come.

Clearly caricaturing the term ‘second lifeline of a State' cannot be more complete than this.