IMPHAL, January 4: If the government acts on its decision of shifting the parking lot of all the oil tankers carrying kerosene, petrol and diesel from the Inter-State Bus Terminus at Khuman Lampak to the campus of the FCS godown at Sangaiporou, it will only add into the traffic woes of Imphal City, a spokesperson of the All Manipur Petroleum Tankers & Drivers`™ Union told IFP.
He said that the recent initiative of the Chief Minister to forcibly shift the parking lot of Oil Tankers from ISBT to Sangaiporou is nothing new as it was earlier attempted by the last government when Pheiroijam Parijat was the FCS minister. However, the last government failed in its endeavour as many issues cropped up while enforcing its plan, he added.
Continuing that the heavy vehicular traffic on the Tiddim Road aside it is also located on the Airport road, he pointed out that possibilities of road accidents is also quite high as a result. Apart from that many colleges and schools along with the ISKCON temple is located along the road, he added.
Transporting empty or loaded tankers from NH-2 by crisscrossing Khwairamband Keithel or Nagamapal also poses a big problem, he said.
There are traffic problems even on the Dingku Road when loaded tankers are parked in the ISBT after reaching Imphal as the timing of their arrival coincides with school and office hours, he said.
Due to these reasons, we expect the government to ponder over these issues before carrying out its decision as similar attempts in the past failed, he cautioned.
However, the government is trying to shift all the 700 Oil Tankers parked at the ISBT to the FCS godown in Sangaiporow by January 16, he said, adding that the 700 tankers include 600 tankers of the Indian Oil Corporation with the remaining belonging to Bharat Petroleum, NRL and Essar company.