Black-topping without roller! - No new technology but chronic illness - - Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: April 06, 2012 -

"It is not wealth that creates roads, but road that creates wealth". This is a quote often attributed to John F Kennedy, the charismatic 35th President of United States of America (USA), though no good reference could be found.

It is not the source or the originality of the quotation that matters here but the truth it conveys on the importance of good roads for development of any state or nation.

In an undeveloped and landlocked hilly state like Manipur where the only major mode of transport is surfaced communication and road link, roads are the lifeline of the people and development of road network has special importance for economic development of the state.

Better road network would not only enable easy movement and communication of the people but also transportation of goods from one place to another, thus facilitating trade activities and generation of income.

Even if invention of motor-vehicles has made transportation of goods from easier, we still need good roads for plying these vehicles.

It is in consideration of this importance that the government of India has provided huge amount of fund and priorities given in the state plans and programmes for construction/repairing of roads in Manipur as in other parts of the country.

But the existing condition of the roads in Manipur is something that still makes news headline in this 21st century.

'Black-topping roads without roller', was the headline of the lead news item we carried on front page of this paper on its April 5 edition.

The news report has nothing do with application of any new technology in construction of road where the traditional method of using roller to compress the road surface before black-topping could be done away with.

It was the sheer 'unbelievably inventiveness' of the contractors who executed the work of black-topping the Inter Village Roads (IVR) under Keishamthong Assembly Constituency without roller and then waiting with smug contentment for clearance of bills.

This, of course, is not the first instance, where questions have been over the manner of executing works by contractors in Manipur, who could not see beyond the annual ritual of repairing roads.

There have been numerous past instances where gasses grew up on newly tarred road.

Why such slopping manner of executing development works is being allowed to take the shape of a recurring phantom to haunt the people as if there is no government authority to monitor the quality of the works being executed?

Why fingers have been raised over the possibility of involvement of officials of state Public Works Department (PWD) in such unscrupulous acts? It is also interesting to note that the works have been started even before issuing of the relevant work orders.

Who allow these contractors to commence the work without the required work order?

The state government should not brush aside these issues but fix responsibility for the rot within the system of contract work if it is true to its commitment of on par development for both hills and valley districts, simply because when such irresponsibility is at play right in front of its nose, what we could say about execution of so-called developmental roads in remote areas.