NH-37 poses grave threats to drivers
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, June 30 2024:
After enduring life-threatening attacks from Kuki militants, truck drivers plying on NH-37 (Imphal-Jiribam highway) are now facing grave risks in the form of mucky and slippery road surface.
One Chingtham Angou of Khongjom Patpan, a truck driver engaged in transporting FCI rice said that the truck drivers are facing grave risks particularly on their return journey, although the onward journey from Imphal is a little better.
Angou said that the highway has fallen into a pathetic state near Nungba and Shanti Khunou.
When there is little rainfall, vehicular movement on the highway is often impeded by landslides or sinking of road surface, he said.
Mud brought down by running water from the hill sides has made the road surface quite slippery near Keimai, thereby posing a serious challenge to all drivers.
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Many times, the loaded trucks have to be pushed by excavators (JCB) to cross this slippery section, Angou said.
These slippery and dilapidated sections have been taking a lot of time, often sapping the energy of drivers to the point of exhaustion, he said.
This sorry state is largely a result of the authorities' failure to give proper way for the loaded vehicles in the midst of the highway development/expansion works, he continued.
Angou said that truck wheels skidding and the trucks tilting to the hill side are a common sight on these sections.
The highway condition is quite bad over a 2 Km section from Makru to Keiphundai.
The situation is even worse from Keiphun-dai to Leingangpokpi with a thick layer of mud covering the highway surface during the rainy season, Angou said.
There are Kuki villages near most of these dilapidated highway sections.
Excavation of earth from the hill side for expansion of the highway has made the highway quite slippery and sometimes impassable as the loose earth gets transformed into a thick layer of mud once they get mixed with water, Angou said.
Loaded trucks could not move forward over this muddy, slippery and inclined road surface and they fell backward.
These trucks were able to move forward when only they were pushed or pulled by the CRPF escorts using excavators (JCB), he recounted.
It takes two to three days for empty trucks to reach Jiribam from Imphal during the rainy season or it may take a single day if one is lucky, he said.
He said that they usually halt the nights at Barak on account of the extremely bad highway condition.
"As we cannot reach Jiribam in a day most of the time, we usually carry rice and other edibles", he said.
Trucks loaded with rice weigh around 24 tonnes each while those carrying cement or fertilizers weigh over 30 tonnes each.
Most of the trucks plying on Imphal-Jiribam highway are heavily loaded, Angou said.
Whenever a truck breaks down on the highway, the CRPF escorts would just note down the vehicle registration number and other details and move ahead, leaving behind the driver and helpers.
Moving from Imphal to Jiribam is relatively easier and safer but the return journey from Jiribam is quite risky and a big challenge to the drivers as the trucks are heavily loaded, he said.
He then requested the State Government and the Government of India to develop National Hinghway-37 to the level of a standard highway at the earliest in the interest of the people of Manipur.