Imphal, August 02 2010: Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency MP, Dr Thokchom Meinya has urged the Centre to get the NH 53 (Imphal-Jiribam) road repaired on a war footing and also set up national highway protection force along the national highways to provide safe passage to the transporters carrying essential commodities to Manipur.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha on last Tuesday, MP Meinya drew the attention of the House to the prevailing situation in Manipur, where the cost of living has become exceedingly high during the last few months.

He said, there is active shortage of essential commodities in the state.

People of Manipur were buying essential commodities from black market at sky-high prices.

For instance, one litre of petrol costs Rs 110 to 150, diesel per litre is Rs 70-90, cooking gas costs Rs 1500 to 2000 per cylinder and a kg of rice costs Rs 30-45 .

He said, one reason for this scarcity is the transporters' reluctant to ply NH 39 even after lifting of the blockade by Naga students as the transporters face extortions and frequent bandhs by Naga insurgents and organisations on the national highways.

MP Meinya further said, another reason is that the other two national highways i.e.NH 53 and NH 150 connecting Manipur with Assam and Mizoram respectively are in pathetic condition.

At the moment, the Government of Manipur is managing with NH 53 which is affected by regular landslides, and bridges on it are dangerously dangling.

He urged the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and National Highway Authority of India to take up the improvement work of NH 53 on a war footing.

The MP further said that the NH 150 is also still at a nascent stage, and it is too narrow for any traffic.

At this juncture, NH 39 remains the only viable option for transportation of essential commodities.

The Inner Manipur MP urged the Union Government, particularly the Union Home Ministry to set up a National Highway Protection Force for manning sensitive NHs like NH 39 .

Till a NHPF is mobilised and put in place, for the time being adequate para military forces need to be deployed along NH 39 for providing a safe passage to the transporters of Manipur.

Immediate action is the need of the hour, MP Meinya asserted.