My annual repair for the Christmas season to Churachandpur, Manipur is indeed an eventful one. Got to meet lots of new friends and relatives. Tons and tons of memorable events.
The flight back to Kolkata via Aizawl is my first one through this route. Got a feeling the flight is flying comparatively low, can see those mountains from my seat. Once we landed at Lengpui airport ( Aizawl airport), the feeling is like that of war movies where an airport suddenly appears out of nowhere, something like a secret landing strip between the mountains. A bit disappointed though , thought i would get to see the spectacular Aizawl city on the way in or on the way out of the airport, i crane my neck here and there, all for nothing but mountains again, but no sight of zawlkhawpui, finally googled it , and the city is indeed very far and outside the flight path of the normal flight.
** my apologies for what's written in this post- in case i intentionally hurt the sentiments of some of the readers.
During my short stay there for about 12 days, i can't help but notice a few needs for this nascent and fast developing town...So many what ifs...
The depleting underground water level is another concern here, in the absence of regular water supply coming through , the survival instincts of the citizens kicks in and for this... most of those who can afford started digging wells . Ours at Beulah-lane is around 45 feet deep, with water level hardly 2 feet at the bottom. January has set in, till the rains come somewhere in March/April, this water shortage will continue.
The situation is indeed grim, in a few years, the underground water level will keep on depleting and will get deeper and deeper.
This underground water is one resource which will take years to restore or may never be possible at all.
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The level of corruption in Manipur is awesome, achieving an alarming rate of awesomeness...duh.. Here i will only highlight two instances
First Instance :
Here is our new gas cylinder, see the sealing cap , you can just remove the cap without applying any pressure or the need for the use of knife/pliers never arises. Your free naked hand will do, indeed a free world . How and why it is sealed like this is one question nobody bothers to ask, can't imagine this happening in any parts of the country. The question of pilferage somewhere on the way cannot be ruled out.
The flight back to Kolkata via Aizawl is my first one through this route. Got a feeling the flight is flying comparatively low, can see those mountains from my seat. Once we landed at Lengpui airport ( Aizawl airport), the feeling is like that of war movies where an airport suddenly appears out of nowhere, something like a secret landing strip between the mountains. A bit disappointed though , thought i would get to see the spectacular Aizawl city on the way in or on the way out of the airport, i crane my neck here and there, all for nothing but mountains again, but no sight of zawlkhawpui, finally googled it , and the city is indeed very far and outside the flight path of the normal flight.
** my apologies for what's written in this post- in case i intentionally hurt the sentiments of some of the readers.
During my short stay there for about 12 days, i can't help but notice a few needs for this nascent and fast developing town...So many what ifs...
- what if there were no dust/ fewer dust - ( the dust in the town famously known as "Lamka Powder") this will need a good road and regular sweeping/cleaning at least once a day by the town/municipal department. Our vehicles will last longer and the BUMP .... exciting and adventurous but nonetheless unnecessary. The road was good till the entry to the town ( Tuibuang), then the bump starts.
- what if there were regular supply of electricity, instead of the very normal load-shedding day, electricity day etc. This one is a far shot from where we stand right now. Some are optimistic with the introduction of the pre-paid electricity, regular supply of electricity is expected soon.
- what if there were regular supply of drinking water . We did subscribe the much publicized and expensive water supply line coming from the Khuga Dam, the water did come once or twice during those few days of my stay there, very irregularly regular.
The depleting underground water level is another concern here, in the absence of regular water supply coming through , the survival instincts of the citizens kicks in and for this... most of those who can afford started digging wells . Ours at Beulah-lane is around 45 feet deep, with water level hardly 2 feet at the bottom. January has set in, till the rains come somewhere in March/April, this water shortage will continue.
The situation is indeed grim, in a few years, the underground water level will keep on depleting and will get deeper and deeper.
This underground water is one resource which will take years to restore or may never be possible at all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The level of corruption in Manipur is awesome, achieving an alarming rate of awesomeness...duh.. Here i will only highlight two instances
First Instance :
Here is our new gas cylinder, see the sealing cap , you can just remove the cap without applying any pressure or the need for the use of knife/pliers never arises. Your free naked hand will do, indeed a free world . How and why it is sealed like this is one question nobody bothers to ask, can't imagine this happening in any parts of the country. The question of pilferage somewhere on the way cannot be ruled out.
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Second Instance :
I went to visit some relatives right in the heart of the town, no need to mention the area.. you can see and judge for yourself the level of corruption that must have gone into this simple bridge construction.... the size of the wire-rod bar, the quality of cement etc... I don't have to be a civil engineer to know what's fundamentally wrong here, a little bit of steel and cement would have done the job here. The irony is that even those people whose life are directly affected by this doesn't do a thing about it, a bit of murmur and cursing here and there ... and then take the other road ( the long cut as the saying goes... instead of the short cut ) and that's it. Maybe we have become insensitive to seeing such things or maybe it's so normal
But still there is hope, the Churachandpur citizens , inspite of all these, we have shown our resilience in the past and will continue to do so in the coming years. We can't help but notice time and time again the total collapse of the infrastructure development in the region. Let's hope the administration listens and do less corruption , less percentage... no corruption is a far cry . At least they can decrease their percentage for any contract and development funds.
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