Manipur villagers oppose by-pass road construction at Indo-Myanmar border

Imphal, September 13 (NNN): Villagers on the Manipur side of Indo-Myanmar border on Sunday foiled a survey to construct a by-pass road passing through the village.

The villagers prevented officials of the National Highways and Infrastructure development Corporation (NHIDCL) and Manipur Electricity department to carry out the survey, reports reaching here said.

The government has a plan to construct a by-pass road from Moreh town to ICP (Integrated Check Post) located at the Indo-Myanmar border and for the purpose the Deputy Commissioner of border district Tengnoupal has reportedly issued an eviction notice on September 11 last.  

In the meantime, a joint team of NHIDCL and the Electricity department moved to the village for a survey. The team was reportedly prevented from conducting the survey by the residents of the villages to be affected by the construction of the by-pass road. The villagers prevented carrying out the survey under the aegis of Moreh-ICP By-pass Road Construction Committee.

The officials told them that they came there to collect a field report of the houses and structures which would be affected by the road construction. However, the villagers stood firm and forced the officials to go back without carrying out the survey.

Leaders of the committee asserted that they will not allow the survey to done.

A villager leader, while condemning the eviction notice, reportedly said that the survey can be carried out only after there is an agreement between the Tengnoupal DC and owners of the affected houses and structures.