Photo Courtesy: nenow
Imphal: Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh told the state Assembly on September 7 that the Imphal Ring Road project is finally picking up speed. Land acquisition for the 51.23-km bypass is almost done. Only one stretch in the Khurai Ipum Pat area of Imphal East district remains. Construction will speed up once that hurdle is cleared. "Once the Khurai Ipum Pat acquisition is finalized, construction will accelerate," the Chief Minister said.
The project serves as a critical bypass to kill traffic congestion in Imphal East and Imphal West. Past delays stemmed from law and order issues and sluggish land acquisition. The state has already paid out Rs 105 crore in compensation. Another Rs 60 crore is heading out the door soon. The government has also spent Rs 189 crore of its own cash on civil works. Tendering is finished, following Asian Development Bank guidelines. State PWD officials met with bank reps in August to nail down the final plans.
The Chief Minister also addressed the state's fractured academic environment during the session. Covid-19 lockdowns and the ethnic conflict starting in May 2023 have hammered the school system. That violence has killed 306 people. Another 49 remain missing. Thousands are displaced. The government is now looking for ways to make up for lost class time. They are eyeing a partnership with IGNOU to help roughly 4,000 teachers earn necessary BEd qualifications. A training facility at DM College only provides 100 spots a year, creating a massive bottleneck. Finally, the government is searching for a way to fund roughly Rs 14 crore in scholarships for students at Dhanamanjuri University.
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