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Manipur : Lifelines in line of fire again |
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The spectre of another blockade hangs over Manipur with a tribal organisation deciding to block all commercial vehicles on the state’s two lifelines - the Imphal-Kohima highway (NH 39) and the Imphal-Silchar highway (NH 53).
The indefinite blockade has been called by the Imphal-Tamenglong Road Development Committee - an organisation formed by the tribal leaders of Senapati and Tamenglong districts - to put pressure on the state government to improve the deplorable condition of the road.
The Imphal-Tamenglong road connects the two districts of Imphal and Tamenglong via Kangpokpi in Senapati district. The road has not been repaired for years. Trucks are the only means of transport for the Naga and Kuki tribes inhabiting the area as no buses ply along this stretch these days.
The road running from Imphal to Kangpokpi, part of the Imphal-Kohima national highway, is in a comparatively better condition. But the portion that stretches from Kangpokpi to the Tamenglong district headquarters is in a deplorable state, one of the leaders of the committee said.
“The decision to launch the economic blockade was prompted by the prolonged negligence of the road by the government. It is the lifeline of the people inhabiting Sadar Hills and Tamenglong district,” a committee statement stated.
The committee, which took the decision to impose the economic blockade, has the full support of the Kuki Students Organisation and the Zeliangrong Students Union. Leaders of the two students’ organisations were present at the meeting on February 18.
The Kuki Students Organisation has warned truckers against plying along the national highways during the blockade period.
The Zeliangrong Students Union has appealed to one and all to extend full support to the cause. The road development committee slammed the state government for not providing basic facilities like serviceable roads and healthcare facilities.
It stated that the existing health centres were meaningless, as these could not provide treatment for even minor ailments and villages in the area were prone to malaria and other diseases.
The villagers have to travel a long distance for treatment and the condition of the road does not help.
The state faces this blockade even as the hardship caused by last year’s 52-day isolation remains etched in public memory.
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