By: Seram Neken
From Samu Makhong to Khuyathong along Thangal Bazar road, almost one third width of the road is filled with haphazardly parked vehicles of all sorts. Khwairamband Keithel is completely disorganized nowadays. Most of the ministers, MLAs, high ranking police officers and bureaucrats of the state were once innocent commuters of this old and only city of the state capital. Now, as they are already in VIP cars, they neither feel the nuisance nor have time to experience the congestion. Dear planners, policy makers and executers, please taste the annoyance by having a brief ride some day in your old scooters or mopeds along the Khwairamband Keithel. Such an experience will be of immense input in announcing policies for the city.
Many a nice short-lived agenda have been proposed for the Imphal city based on the moods of the political and bureaucratic heads from time to time. Green city ambition of the state government has been shattered as the saplings planted at Khwairamband Keithel roadsides are toiling in sunlight and their leaves drying day by day. No water, no leave, no flower, no green city.
Another issue is the street vendor imbroglio. Security personnel were too active to wipe out the weak women vegetable vendors from the Khwairamband Keithel a couple of months back. Innocent, poor and old women faced lots of hardships for they had to earn and feed their families in spite of the non-provision of their business site. But nowadays, the wiped out street vendors have freely returned and queued beside Khwairamband Keithel roads, as the programme was not meant for long term cleansing of the market.
Each and every programme in Khwairamband Keithel is temporary and short-sighted. Provision and maintenance of parking in the city is totally in anarchy. Huge numbers of Diesel Auto Rikshaws have overcrowded the available parking and narrow passes within the Khwairamband Keithel. There is no monitoring of sale and licensing of such public vehicle, with due comparison with available width of roads and parking space in the city. As unemployment problem hits the state, young people have resorted to driving Auto-Rikshaws. The transport department, town planners, traffic police and state public works department need to think in collusion for finding out the problem of parking and congestion in the city.
Traffic Police personnel are highly dramatic wherever and whenever any VIP passes them. It seems that the sole duty of the traffic police is only to clear ways for VIP vehicles. When the VIP leaves, everything is left in chaos. Public convenience is sidelined. Hence, the traffic congestion and parking mania in Imphal city can never be resolved, until and unless ‘public convenience’ is considered as priority for any programme or policy.
Helmet use drive is announced every time again and again, but continually with breaks. It also requires rethinking considering the narrow roads, unavailable parking, crowded roadside vendors, traffic congestions, law and order problem etc. Otherwise, such a forced programme will not live long.
Ferrying by semi-low floor passenger buses is going on in some routes without any seeming de-burdening of traffic congestion in city. May be there are inconveniences to the public, that hamper the easy lift of passengers by these buses. More routes in nook and corner need to be covered.
Amidst the age-old traffic anarchy in Imphal city, zero garbage campaign has also failed in reality in Imphal city. Months after launch with various pledges for zero garbage by the state politicians, thousands of garbage started accumulating roadsides in market. As part of the campaign under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, local organizations were also given awards for their best services. However, as it was not a sustained effort of the government and non-government agencies, zero garbage turned a thousand garbage in a few weeks. Animals freely stray on city streets as against the laws governed by Imphal Municipal council. Even dead animals are left unattended for days in city areas. Very recently, a local newspaper asked in its front page “where is IMC ?”. Each and every policy needs to be chalked out with sustainability and far-sighted with resourceful and experienced citizens of the state.
Union government has announced development of two ‘smart’ cities each with a host of modern features like intelligent transport and carbon neutral status in every state of India in the second phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Medium-sized cities with half a million to one million population will be covered under the programme to be executed with expertise of Austrian Institute of Technology. Right from broadband, intelligent transport to carbon neutral (features), will be the basic features of these smart cities. Imphal may rightly be pursued for this plan. However, with all types of chaos in city planning, smart cities will become an Utopia in Manipur.