HIGHWAY security is the crying need.  But money sent from Delhi for strengthening patrolling along NH53 is lying idle. Who cares? The amount allocated is not very high, just Rs. 1 crore. Yet it could not be utilised. Manipur government is still tossing various proposals on how to go about the task – shall we set up security camps, how many security posts should be set up and where, shall we provide more patrol vehicles or just deploy more policemen. For the present, the government did a sensible thing. It deposited the Rs.1 crore with Manipur Police Housing Corporation.

NH-53 is regarded as Manipur’s second lifeline has become a haven for   gunmen who waylay buses and harass passengers and transporters alike and the need for adequate security along this route has long been felt.

Centre has offered to deploy three battalions of paramilitary forces on NH 53. To avail the offer, Imphal must do some homework. With political masters busy in politicking, the bureaucracy is given laissez-faire. Centre wants the construction and maintenance of NH to be entrusted to BRTF. The highways to be covered by the BRTF personnel are NH-39, 53 and 150 connecting Yaingangpokpi with Churachandpur This is because there are reports of extortion of money from contractors by underground.

Works Minister Gaikhangam has confirmed the New Delhi diktat. But says we are yet to take a firm decision on handing over the assignment to the BRTF. But heeding the New Delhi call will make the Public Works Department to scrap four to five divisions that were looking after the highways, It is  possible that the Surface  Transport Ministry may reduce grants from the Central Road Fund

State PWD spends as much money on roads as on maintenance. The roads are full of potholes, still. Referring to frequent instances of road. The road to Imphal Airport is dotted with potholes. Ditto is the case with the Indo-Burma road from Moirangkhom till Chingamathak due to sub-standard works. There have been occasions when the underground forced contractors to stop work. The roadwork under the state PWD is shoddy. Gaikhangam cites the example of ambitious Yaingangpokpi-Churachandpur NH 150 as a glaring case of delay caused due to tussle among the under ground groups. Documents relating to the Rs 10 crore project has been confiscated by the ultras  hampering smooth executing of the construction, he said. Failure to produce utilization certificates of centrally  sponsored road schemes due to the militants’ interference has ed to about Rs. 3.5 crore being blocked by the Centre.

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