Morung Express News
Kiphire | July 23
Kiphire district is facing a massive public transportation problem, with the only Dimapur-Kiphire NST night super bus service running only a few times a week and suffering constant breakdowns.
While the introduction of night service to Dimapur along with a day service to Kohima was a huge relief for people in the district, for the past few months, the service has deteriorated. Due to frequent breakdowns, the bus journey, which is usually 12 hours, has risen to more than 48 hours.
Government officers posted in Kiphire, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the district which was listed by the Niti Aayog as one of the most underdeveloped in its nationwide ‘Aspirational Districts’ list, could do a lot with proper transportation and communication facilities.
Staff in the district transport establishment also acknowledged the problem, revealing that in several instances, the Station Superintendent, NST had to bear the expenses for minor repairs of the bus on his own.
Sources meanwhile also disclosed that one of the broken down buses has been at the central workshop Dimapur for over a month. Meanwhile, the two other buses at Kiphire are not in a position to travel to Dimapur due to mechanical problems. The vehicles, which are aged, also suffer from bad fuel efficiency, and most of them have clocked up more than 2 lakh kilometers.
Residents of the district hope that the Nagaland State Transport would speed up efforts to improve transportation services in Kiphire. While there is no intimation from the department on this, many residents still term it as the only reliable transport and communication means, with private bus services also being unreliable.
