This road to Manipur is no thriller, the danger is real

The other NH, No. 53, linking Imphal to Jiribam and onwards to Silchar in southern Assam was still in use, but after another incident on September 23, vehicular traffic has come to a full stop here too.

‘‘With no railway link to Manipur, the two highways are its vital lifelines,’’ says Manipur DGP S. Bimal Chandra. ‘‘But while we have convinced Nagaland police to provide security on the Nagaland stretch of NH 39, a large portion of NH 53 is still highly vulnerable.’’

Jaimani Singh, 40, who has been driving luxury buses between Silchar in southern Assam to Imphal for more than 15 years now, says last week, ‘‘armed militants almost killed a fellow driver for failing to cough up the amount they demanded’’.

Taxi drivers refuse to take this correspondent even 50 km along the NH 53. ‘‘Will you look after my family if they kill me?’’ asks one.

But running on these roads has always been a risky hurdle race. Militant groups collect ‘‘tax’’ from different categories of vehicles plying on the highways — an oil-tanker ranks highest, with each paying Rs 3,000 per trip. A truck carrying gas cylinders has to cough up Rs 2,000, that carrying cement Rs 1,000 and ones bearing FCI rice Rs 50O per trip.

Then there are annual tax rates — Rs 12,000 for a tourist bus, Rs 7,000 for a Tata truck. But the ones on top of the heap are trucks carrying precious LPG cylinders, which have to pay Rs 1 lakh per annum.

Given that Manipur’s entire civil supply and petroleum requirements come in through NH 39 — on an average 100 trucks and tankers every day — the state is in a mess. Even the stock of aviation fuel, required for aircrafts, is depleting fast.

According to UCM president in-charge Ima Sarojini, NSCN(I-M) cadres are behind the harassment and looting of passengers of Manipur-bound vehicles on NH 39. General secretary O. Rattan says the Indian Government can’t absolve itself of responsibility as clauses C and D of its ceasefire agreement with the NSCN(I-M) permits its cadres to move around freely with arms and ammunition.

A harried DGP Chandra admits: ‘‘We can provide security only up to Mao on the Manipur-Nagaland inter-state border. Beyond that it is the duty of the Nagaland police.’’ However, he has managed to earn some respite through personal negotiation with his Nagaland counterpart, and by Friday afternoon, some 20 trucks and tankers may come from Assam.

But providing security on NH 53 is at present out of the question. ‘‘More than half the 222-km length of NH 53 between Imphal and Jiribam passes through jungles and uninhabited areas. There is not a single police outpost along the highway because there are no townships on it,’’ Chandra explains.

While an ambitious, Rs 52-crore National Highway Security Scheme was submitted to the Centre back in 1998, it has been gathering dust in the Union Home Ministry. Chandra says: ‘‘We have identified seven to eight patrols and road-opening parties. But where is the money and manpower?’’

Chingakham, a journalist-turned-activist who looks after publicity in the UCM, complains: ‘‘While the Centre is busy negotiating peace with the Nagas, the security scenario in Manipur has gone to the dogs. With total absence of security forces, different militant groups have divided among themselves different portions of the NH 53. While a major share has gone to the NSCN(I-M), the Khaplang faction and Kuki militants too have a strong presence on it.’’

Another problem the security forces face, says Chandra, is bad condition of the two highways, which ‘‘puts militants in an advantageous position to ambush us at most places’’.

Last week, the Manipur Peace and Integration Council, a constituent of the UCM, sent a team of civil engineers to inspect NH 53. ‘‘You cannot call it a road, not to speak of calling it a national highway,’’ says Y. Joykumar, a government engineer, who was part of the team. Though the Border Road Task Force (BRTF) is in charge of maintnance and repair, there are at least 12 bridges on the NH that can’t take load beyond 10 tonnes, according to Joykumar.

An all-party delegation is right now in Delhi to meet Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and Deputy PM L.K. Advani and apprise them of the

state’s woes.