Imphal turned into a big waste disposal site !
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 15 2022: In what seems to be the failure of the Imphal Municipal Corporation (IMC), many places in its jurisdiction have been turned into waste dumping sites.

Many allegedly illegal parking spaces have also cropped up to compound the matter.

Mounds of waste can be seen in areas in Nagamapal, Khwairamband Keithel, North AOC and Konung Mamang in the heart of the capital city.

With the IMC's failure to dispose the garbage, the city smells foul.

In addition to people finding the smell of deteriorating food and other degradable items a nuisance, it is posing the risk of a health hazard for the people in the area and others visiting the city.

Smart in name only, Imphal city has a long way to go to become an actually Smart City, said a woman who was visiting Khwairamband bazar to buy fabrics for her soon to be bride daughter.

Imphal turned into a big waste disposal site !

One of the dirtiest places is the section along Hatta-Konung Mamang road where bureaucrats, Ministers and MLAs travel frequently.

The stretch between the two locations has become no less of a dumping site as waste piles up daily.

When there are many factors contributing to the waste littering in Imphal, lack of adequate dustbins in and around the city and lack of proper waste disposal sites have been major causes for the problems facing the city.

A jogger in his mid 40s said to solve the problem, IMC should be sincere and willing to actually clean the city of waste.

Clean and green Imphal is possible only when the people and IMC take collective responsibility.

People should not litter and IMC should dispose of the waste collected properly in a timely manner, he said.

"No matter how many designated dumping and disposal sites there are, the problem will exist if the IMC and authorities concerned do not collect and dispose of the waste," he said.

On the other hand, the issue of waste dumping in the city is not the only problem Imphal is facing.

Another problem is the rampant mushrooming of illegal parking spaces.

There is a trend emerging in which certain areas where people usually park their vehicles are turned into parking spaces to collect fees.

What is troubling is those who give parking tickets are unable to answer clearly when asked who gave them the authority to issue tickets and collect parking fees.

They provide no valid answers when asked if the parking spaces are given by the IMC.

As a result this has forced common people who frequent places in Imphal to raise a serious question if certain officers in the IMC are giving the parking spaces and authorities to them for personal gains.

There have also been incidents of quarrel happening between people and those who are giving the parking tickets.

Some people have even alleged that they suspect those giving the tickets to be drug addicts who are illegally collecting fees.

Meanwhile, Imphal city is not the only place facing the problem of disposing waste.

Driven by increasing population and lack of proper disposal sites, semi-urban and rural areas are also facing similar problems.

It is often a common sight in these areas to see people disposing waste/garbage on the banks of rivers thus polluting the water, environment and ultimately defiling the river.