Imphal, April 07 2009: The oldest inter-state road of Manipur, known by other name as Tongjei Maril Lambi, the Old Cachar Road has remained unattended due to the state government apathy and the condition of the road remains in an adorable state.

This has come to light during the inspection tour of the road under the auspices of the Zeliangrong Students' Union, Manipur from March 31 till April 3 .

The road is an important lifeline of the state which connects the state with neighbouring states from a road in the outskirt of Bishnupur bazaar and leads to Nungba bazaar in Tamenglong district.

The road stretches till neighbouring Assam by merging with NH 53 at Nungba.

The road passes through ten villages inhabited by different communities of the state including Chirus, Thangals and the Zeliangrong tribes.

Due to the pathetic conditions of the road, the villagers prefer to go to Bishnupur side instead of going through Nungba.

Once used like a highway, the road has no wider range bigger than ten to fifteen foot.

As such, passenger vehicles plying along this road are mostly of short-body vehicles like jeeps.

For the record, only one bus has plied along this road, that too a shortened body one which is not pliable in other parts of the state.

Even in the dry season of March and April, the road has some water-filled deep holes and potholes which can be mistaken for a pond.

The road becomes almost unmotor- able during monsoon as it used to be filled with mud travel.

Vehicle owners have also refused to ply along the road due to the bad road condition during rainy season, adding to the woes of the people.

Talking to Hueiyen Lanpao, the Secretay of Zeliangrong Students' Union, Manipur (ZSUM), Majabung Gangmei said that it's been long the government of Manipur neglected the improvement of this road, which is also related with many classic stories of the state.

As such, the face of the road had not been changed at least for once and the same Old Cachar road, also known as Tongjei Maril Lambi of the days of yore remains the same till now.

He however said that a total of nine work orders for the improvement and carpeting of the road have been issued by the government.

But sadly, no work has been done till today.

Other than black topping once, there has been no other visible work taken up.

The ZSUM had informed earlier that any intervention and disturbance from underground activists in the construction and improvement of this road should be happening, he said.

He also demanded that any work order for the road should be handed over to the Tamenglong district headquarters and to immediately stop doing it through Bishnupur district administration.

Interacting with this reporter, a jeep driver along the road, Nimai of Bishnupur bazaar said that the road remains in pathetic condition due to negligence of the government.

The width of the road has also been smaller than other roads of the hills which cause inconveniences in driving along this road.

The road condition will be worsening during the monsoon season as mud will garnish the road, he said.

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