Prices of essential items go up in Manipur

Prices of essential items have gone up in Manipur as trucks loaded with such commodities failed to reach the state on time due to a land slide near Kohima in Nagaland, official sources said today.

Although 101 oil tankers arrived here this morning, trucks carrying essential items were stranded because of the landslide at Phesima on Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati (NH 39).

Border Road Task Force (BRTF) personnel were engaged in repairing the portion which was damaged in the July 12 landslide but it could take till September to make the highway passable, the sources said.

In the meantime, prices were soaring. Market reports said onion was being sold at Rs 40 per kg as against the earlier price Rs 28 per kg, sugar Rs 50 (Rs 40), potato Rs 25 (Rs 18). However, prices of various types of dal remained the same till now.

Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh has urged his Nagaland counterpart Neiphiu Rio to speed up repairing work at the damaged portion of the NH-39.

The stranded trucks were instructed to enter Manipur via Silchar-Jiribam-Imphal route (NH 53), but it was not dependable as landslides occur frequently on this route, the sources said.

Private vehicles including four-wheelers were entering the state via Imphal-Jiribam-Silchar but passenger buses were not plying along the route as of now.

Sources said adequate security personnel were being provided to vehicles and trucks entering Manipur via Jiribam, and if no problem occurred in bringing essential items through Jiribam, a town bordering Assam, it would continue to do so.

A Jiribam report said several trucks and oil tankers were ready for departure and they would leave Jiribam when adequate security was available.

Of the other options being considered, one was a route from Guwahati via Nagaland and Jessami and Ukhrul district in Manipur, the sources said.

The Chief Minister held a meeting with representatives of transport associations to discuss the issue yesterday.

A team led by Manipur Works Minister Kh. Ratan Kumar has left for Phesima to make an on the spot study of the landslide there.