Imphal, October 08 2017: Of all the North Eastern States, Manipur occupies second position in terms of road accidents caused by potholes .
According to the ‘Road Accidents in India 2015’ published by the Transport Research Wing of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, there were 10,876 cases of road accidents caused by potholes across the country in 2015 .
Among the North East States, Arunachal Pradesh topped the list with 34 cases, closely followed by Manipur with 31 cases .
On the average 17 people were killed every hour in road accidents across the country in 2016 .
Even as the State Government maintained that dilapidated roads could not be repaired in time due to high rainfall rate, many people have been contending that it was indifferent and irresponsible attitude of the State Government and PWD which led to deterioration of different roads to a pathetic state .
Failure to fill in potholes and carry out minor repair in time led to the current sorry state and this is only multiplying the probability of road accidents in the State where road accidents and related deaths are already quite high .
In Manipur, 27 people in every lakh meet road accidents in a year and Manipur records the maximum number of road accidents in the entire North East region .
Even though Manipur is a very small State, it occupies 17th position in the whole country in terms of road accidents recorded in a year.
Imphal city is one city of the North East region which has very high population density but its roads and other transport infrastructure are quite inadequate .
The way roads are constructed and repaired in Imphal city does not reflect any sign of proper planning.
It appears that it is sub-contractors, not the contractors, who are executing road development works, remarked many quarters.
A per a report of the State’s CID Crime Branch, the number of deaths in road accidents has been rising during the last five years .
The total number of motor vehicles registered at the State Transport Department has already crossed 3,06,039.Of all the road accidents recorded in the State, 36 per cent occurred in Imphal West .
Traffic congestion at Imphal city has been growing every year and it is closely related with the efficiency or inefficiency in traffic management.
The State does not have sufficient number of trained Traffic Police personnel.
As such, untrained VDF personnel are being used in traffic management.
Source: The Sangai Express
