Imphal, June 26 (MExN): A day after the Manipur State Transport (MST) was revived through launching of bus services in first phase, Zeliangrong Youth Front (ZYF) while appreciating the move today appealed to the State government to consider the case of Tamenglong district on top priority by including the district in the next phase of MST system “in order to mitigate the suffering of the people and to enable the people to catch up with the rest of the people of the State.” ZYF president, Titus Kamei in a press release highlighted the sufferings of people in Tamenglong district due to absence of public transport system. The Front had submitted a memorandum on June 10, 2017 to Chief Minister of Manipur demanding MST system for all the sub-divisions of Tamenglong district. The suffering of the people compounded since the discontinuation of erstwhile Manipur State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) system for more than twenty years ago, the release said. “The present trend of passenger service system provided by private vehicle's operators without considering the extreme financial hardships which charge exorbitant and intolerable amount as travelling fares has compounded the suffering of the people in addition to the district being lagging behind in all fronts therefore, providing MST system by the government for the people of the district at the earliest will eradicate the suffering of the people on transportation sector,” it added. ZYF further cited that the people of Tousem sub-division are presently connected to Imphal, which is located about 200 km away, by walking on foot for the whole day from early morning to till late evening to reach Tamenglong district HQ and then take taxi from there on the next day “thereby wasting two precious days to reach Imphal.” The other option is to take foot journey for 54km to reach Kaiphundai village located on the NH No. 37 so as to board passenger service vehicles bound between Imphal-Jiribam. “Many precious lives have been lost without getting medical attention due to extreme neglect by the government in the past. This being the real situation for the people of Tamenglong district especially for the people of Tousem sub-division who are living in the far flung and interior areas, it is the bounden duty and unavoidable responsibility on the part of the State government to provide or arrange transportation system on top priority basis,” ZYF appealed.
