Que for 5 liters of Petrol!....Sounds a very worthless thing to pay attention to but if you view this video, you will be surprised. This is a daily scene when there are Economic blockades in Manipur and these economic blockades are quite frequent.
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; Manipur also borders Myanmar to the east. It covers an area of 22,347 square kilometres (8,628 sq mi). The the primary ethnic group,Meiteis (Meeteis) (60% of the total population) resides in the valley area which is only 10% of the total land area. Their language, Meiteilon (Meeteilon), (also known as Manipuri), is also the lingua franca in the state. The Muslims (Meitei-Pangal) also live in the valley; The Kukis, Nagas, and other 33 smaller groups forming about 40% of the population occupy the remaining 90% of the total land area of Manipur State which are basically the hilly regions surrounding the valley. Means of transportation is by air , connecting the state capital with Delhi, Kolkata Guwahati and Agartala; And by road transport via National Highway NH-2 (Recently changed NH-39 to NH-2) links Manipur with the rest of the country through the railway stations at Dimapur in Nagaland at a distance of 215 km (134 mi) from Imphal. National Highway 37 (Recently changed NH-53 to NH-37) (India)connects Manipur with another railway station at Silchar in Assam, which is 269 km (167 mi) away from Imphal. The road network of Manipur, with a length of 7,170 km (4,460 mi) connects all the important towns and distant villages and the Imphal-Moreh road, that connects to Myanmar by NH-102.
Now, when there happens to be an economic blockade called by any group of people on the national highways, it is the people of Manipur ourselves who suffer. Shortage of essential commodities, scarcity of life saving drugs, price hikes are what people residing mostly in the valley area face during blockades. During the recently concluded 120 days of economic blockade called by the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC) and then by the United Naga Council(UNC) which concluded just before the arrival of the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi on December 3rd. How much the population suffered during the blockade, you might have an idea after watching this video. A gas cylinder refill went above Rs.2000/- and so did the price of all other essential commodities raised exorbitantly. Petrol price hiked above Rs.200/- per Liter and that too a Light Motor vehicle could avail only 5 liters while a Two wheeler, only 3 liters at one time. For it, all the vehicles has to line up in separate ques.... for LMVs, for Heavy Vehicles and for Bikes & other Two wheelers. This video clip is of such a Que of LMVs on one side and a part of Que of Two wheelers on the other side. The video-grapher Tuleshwar Irungbam could not cover the entire length as the Security forces hardly allow filming owing to Manipur being a disturbed state. I feel that you will find this video interesting. Do have a look....
*** Diana Raj Kumari ***
