SPF's idea of prioritising CM in poll mode talk
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 13, 2011 -

Of late Chief Minister O Ibobi seems to be in the mode for some advance election talk though it is not clear whether he is ready to walk the talk. The most recent example of this election mode talk was the announcement of the Chief Minister that his Government has finalised the spadework to set up 7/8 market sheds in the hill districts besides a mega water supply project from Thoubal river at the cost of Rs 600 crores.

We are told that the Centre has already given its nod to the Detailed Project Report prepared by the State Government and the only hitch remains the completion of Thoubal Multi-Purpose Project. Once the multi-purpose project is completed, the Mega Water Supply Project will be taken up and the water from Thoubal river will be piped to Greater Imphal areas.

Sounds good, especially in the face of perennial water shortage that the rapidly growing Imphal areas face every year. The estimated cost is Rs 600 crores, not a small amount by any standard and according to the plan at this stage, the Nongmaijing hill has to be bored through to lay the water pipes and most probably the filtration plant will be situated somewhere near Imphal or in Imphal itself.

A grand idea, no doubt about it. Development, progress, ensuring that the people get access to the bare minimum etc are the yard- sticks to measure the performance of a Government and a mega water supply scheme to cover the Greater Imphal areas definitely looks high on the measuring chart. The Chief Minister also talked about setting up 7/8 market sheds in the hill districts of the State and this again sounds perfect.

It has not yet been spelt out where the market sheds will come up, but it may be safe to presume that the district headquarters, such as Tameng-long, Ukhrul, Senapati, Churachandpur, Chandel figure high on the list of the Government. The only question is whether priorities should be placed on market sheds or on some other sector, such as water and power supply or educational infrastructure or road co- mmunication or primary health.

Prioritising is a test of a Government on many front. For one it is a test of whether the Government is practical and sincere about what they are talking about. Secondly it means whether the Government has seriously calculated or studied the cost-benefit of any scheme that it plans to take up and thirdly it also means whether the Government has been able to think out of the box or is merely happy with playing to the gallery.

Judicious utilisation of the resources at hand, cutting down on costs and expenditures, ensuring quality etc are the calling cards of any Government if it is serious about delivering the goods. We need to study whether any of these factors have been taken into consideration when the Chief Minister announced the grand, mega water supply scheme for Greater Imphal areas as well as the market sheds for the hill districts.

As we have said the estimated cost is Rs 600 crores and as long as the Congress remains in power in Delhi, fund may not be a problem for Ibobi and company but this should be no reason for not taking the cost factor into consideration. We are sure the Chief Minister has heard about water harvesting and conservation.

Imphal receives adequate rainfall in a year and given this fact, the question of water shortage in Imphal should not have arisen in the first place. We wonder why the Government, the PHED or any of the departments concerned have not talked about harvesting the rain water in Imphal.

Will it cost too much or is it a question of writing off the possibility of contract works altogether or minimising the necessity of the contract system, that has made the Government study this alternative ? Instead of drilling through Nongmaijing hill, which is necessary in the present plan, why not think along the line of harvesting and conserving water ?

The amount of Rs 600 crores may well be utilised for irrigation purposes in the areas lying near the Thoubal Multi-Purpose Project. The 21st century also demands that Governments and people across the world need to be environmentally conscious and when the talk is on preserving the hills and forests, here we are talking about boring a tunnel through Nongmaijing hill to lay the water pipes.

The impact on the sensitive environment as well as the loose soil formation of the region can be overlooked only to our peril. On the premise that the SPF Government is committed to equitable development of the hills and the valley, the Chief Minister talked about the plan to set up 7/8 market sheds in the hill districts, while conveniently forgetting that students of Pettigrew College, the only college in Ukhrul district have been on the war path for the last many days, demanding basic infrastructure and the removal of the Principal-in-charge.

Maybe the Chief Minister may not know it, but a BA II Year student of this college had to return home without writing the History exam, because the question paper had not arrived ! As things have turned out, the college authority had failed to requisition the same from Manipur University. If this is called prioritising things then heaven help us.