Court announces fact finding team to assess reality of NH 53
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, March 31, 2011: A division bench of the Gauhati High Court, Imphal Bench today announced that a fact finding team of the court will be formed to inspect the actual condition of NH 53, the second lifeline of the people of the state.

The division bench of court comprising judges, Tayenjam Nandakumar and Mutum Binoykumar, passed the order for formation of the fact finding team after hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed against the Border Road Task Force (BRTF) for their failure to make the road an accessible one.

The fact finding team should submit a report to the court in its next hearing of the PIL, the court said.

During the hearing to the PIL in the court, BRTF counsel insisted that the road improvement work of the highway was going on in full swing to which the counsel of the petitioner strongly argued against.

He pointed out that even though the BRTF claimed completion of the improvement work of the portion from Jiribam to Monshang, there are many potholes and inaccessible portions within the stretch.

If the improvement work was not completed before the advent of the rainy season, people travelling on this route will suffer.

After hearing the arguments of both sides, the court observed that it would be better to know the true reality of the road as it would be difficult to pass a ruling regarding the matter off hand.

On the other hand, Transporters' and Drivers' Council, in a statement issued today, said that due to the rains in the last two days, goods ferrying trucks took more than two days to arrive at Imphal from Jiribam, saying that 413 goods laden trucks that left Jiribam on March 29 morning arrived at Imphal only today.

The delay in reaching Imphal was due to the bad road condition, particularly at Kambirol area, the statement said blaming the BRTF for not taking interest in improving the road before the advent of the rainy season.

The council also criticized the state government for rejecting the formation of a monitoring committee to look into the mode of working of the BRTF.

The government also failed to keep its promise of completing the road improving work within February.

The TDC also reiterated the restriction imposed on state trucks to take the Imphal-Dimapur section of NH 39 reminding drivers and truckers to avoid plying on NH 39.

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