Neglected IT road is in a woeful condition
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network
Imphal, March 27 2011:
The passive way of approaching things in an attempt to get their problems addressed by the people living along the IT Road and Tamei subdivision under Tamenglong district seems to be the reason for their woes to get compounded.
The IT Road, the sole transport link to the outside world for the people of Tamei subdivision and which forms a major chunk of Sadar Hills, is one of the oldest roads of Manipur but it is arguably the most deplorable and dangerous road for people to use.
Bus owners and taxis are reluctant to ply along the IT Road as there is no business benefit.
Vehicles which ply on this road are found dumped in motor workshops after every three days.
The few buses that are in service along the IT Road are actually rendering a humanitarian job.
From Imphal till Tamei headquarters, the distance is 115 kilometres.
During the dry season, the transporters experience the ordeal of bumps raggedness and dust.
One cannot drive faster than 10 kilometres per hour.
During the raining season, the worries of the drivers are numerous.
In places where landslides have taken place one has to push half-buried wheels from muddy and slippery potholes, to navigate between boulders of fresh slides and one has also to be extra-careful in handling the vehicle while negotiating the narrow road which has a deep gorge on one side.
Every year numerous lives have been claimed by accidents caused by bad road conditions and yet the people using this road have made little complaint.
Except for occasional appeals made by certain groups through the media requesting the government to repair the road, no pressure tactics have been applied to address to their plight.
Accidents continue to occur and more lives will be lost and transporters patience is being tested to the limit but the affected people have remained meek and submissive.
No social organisations or pressure groups have come forward to publicise the neglect of the road.