By Samudra Gupta Kashyap
Guwahati, May 12 : One litre petrol for Rs 150; an LPG cylinder for Rs 1,200. This isn’t a newspaper headline, but the ground reality in Manipur, where bandhs and blockades have become the order of the day. Manipur is right now facing at least three blockades and bandhs — all directly affecting the National Highway 39, the lifeline of the landlocked state that shares borders with Nagaland, Assam and Mizoram, apart from an international border with Myanmar.
If the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has stopped Manipur-bound trucks from passing through Nagaland for the Manipur government’s refusal to let NSCN(IM) leader Thuingaleng Muivah enter, the All Naga Students’ Association of Manipur and other Naga civil organizations have blocked NH-39 since April 11 opposing holding of district council elections in the hill districts.
As if these blockades were not enough, the United Committee of Manipur has imposed a “total blockade” of transport vehicles from the Imphal Valley to the Naga-dominated hill districts of Manipur.
The NH-39 also witnessed trouble when groups protesting the May 6 firing at Mao Gate felled trees and placed heaps of rocks to further block the highway.
The result: Manipur faces a severe crisis of essential commodities, with prices sky-rocketing. With supply lines snapped, petrol pumps are fast shutting down and hospitals are running out of medicines. For those travelling to other parts of the country, the only way out is to catch a flight. With buses not plying on NH-39 for several weeks now, people go up to Mao Gate by taxi, cross the inter-state check gate, and catch another taxi after hiking for 2 km.
“Manipur has over the years learnt to live with bandhs and blockades. I would put the blame on the Centre. Movement of goods and vehicular traffic across the country is a fundamental right, and it is for the Centre to ensure that this right is not curtailed anywhere,” says Amar Yumnam, a professor at Manipur University in Imphal.
The state government, however, puts the entire blame on the NSCN(IM). “The situation has arisen because Muivah insists on addressing meetings in different hill districts of Manipur, which we cannot allow in the interest of territorial integrity of our state,” says N Biren Singh, spokesperson of the Congress-led SPF government, from Imphal. “Manipur has been held to ransom by these bandhs, especially since the birth of the NSCN,” Singh, also the state Sports Minister, says.
Accusing the NSCN of regularly targeting the NH-39, he says the outfit collects illegal taxes from vehicles on the highway apart from looting them. “We suffer huge losses due to these bandhs.”
“I have been stuck for 15 days now. First nine days we were stuck at Imphal. Next three days at Mao Gate in Manipur. After the Manipur Police escorted us out on Tuesday, we are now stuck on the Nagaland side because of the NSF blockade,” Sushil Kaushal, a truck driver from Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, says.
Five trucks heading for Manipur were burnt down on Tuesday by miscreants 1 km short of Mao Gate on the Nagaland side. “There must be over 100 trucks still stuck in Imphal,” says Dilip Kumar Sen, a truck driver from West Bengal. Registration numbers of trucks show that they are from all across the country — Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Meghalaya.
The 436-km NH-39 that takes off from NH-37 at Numaligarh near Kaziranga in Assam and passes 115 km through Nagaland and 211 km through Manipur, ends at Moreh on the Indo-Myanmar international border.
Though no latest figures about bandhs, blockades and their impact on Manipur are available, a study conducted by the state government last year said Manipur suffered an accumulated loss of Rs 1,320 crore due to bandhs and blockades between 2004-05 and 2006-07.
While Manipur witnessed 110 bandhs and 234 economic blockades during that period, the year-wise break-up is: 20 days of bandhs and 60 days of economic blockades in 2004-05, which rose to 48 days and 97 days in 2005-06, and 42 days and 77 days in 2006-07.
The state Department of Economics and Statistics has worked out the impact of these bandhs and blockades on the people of Manipur. The per capita income of the state reduced by 6.10 per cent in 2004-05, 11.79 per cent in 2005-06 and 9.93 per cent in 2006-07, the study said.
The state government is looking at opening the NH-53, a circuitous route via Meghalaya and Barak Valley in Assam to improve its supply position. “We have asked the Army to ensure that the NH-53 remains undisturbed,” says Biren Singh.
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