Imphal, June 15: Thanks to the inertness of the State Government, the plot of land of the MSRTC at Dimapur may soon become a haven for land sharks as indiscriminate encroachments during the last few years have already taken a heavy toll on the plot.

During a visit by a team of journalists from Manipur, it was found that the northern side of the wall, which is the boundary of MSRTC plot, has been broken down and a pucca building has been come up affecting 40 ft by 20 ft of the land belonging to the MSRTC.

Local residents there informed the media team that the construction of the house started about two months back.

State Transport Minister Manga Vaiphei himself came to Dimapur on June 9 and he has already been apprised of the large scale encroachment into the land of the MSRTC, said the local people there.

The Minister is understood to have told the local people that his visit was to see to what use the plot of land can be put to as the MSRTC has practically become defunct.

Even though the MSRTC has stopped functioning effectively, its godown at Dimapur has become a good source of income for its cashier, said some of the local people stating he is pocketing all the money collected as rent from the godown.

Of the 15 residential quarters located at the MSRTC complex at Dimapur, the cashier has leased out 11 of them to tenants charging Rs 500 per quarters, they added.

The 160 feet long MSRTC godown has also been converted into a godown for storing cement.

The garage has been leased out to a cement dealer at the rent of Rs 3000 per month, said the local people.

None of the tenants have any official documents for occupying the MSRTC complex, they said.

Another 15 ft wide and 20 ft long of land of the MSRTC has been encroached upon by a man from Bihar who has built a house there.

This stretch of encroached land is just adjacent to the rest house which is being constructed by the Dimapur Meitei Union.

The tenants staying at the quarters of the MSRTC confirmed that they have been staying at the quarters by paying a sum of Rs 500 per month to the cashier.

They even deposited an advance sum of Rs 1500 to the cashier.

As per a request from the State Government, the Nagaland Govt has deployed five Home Guard personnel to guard the MSRTC complex.

The Home Guard personnel said that since they are not issued any arms, guarding the complex is a difficult job.

If the Government of Manipur repairs the complex, then the Nagaland Government will be ready to issue arms to them, they added.

It is still not clear whether the State Government has been paying the land revenue to Nagaland for the MSRTC complex regularly.

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