Supply Crisis Looms as Manipur Highway Blockades Stall Hundreds of Trucks

Imphal: Manipur faces a mounting supply crisis. Around 500 goods vehicles sit idle on the state's two primary national highways. Traffic on National Highway-37, the lifeline to Silchar, slowed to a crawl after the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited halted repair work on the Noney-Nungba stretch. This move ignored earlier promises made to Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand.

A landslide at Oinamlong left only one lane open. Debris and backed-up drainage choke the route. Without a Monday security convoy for empty trucks, congestion is climbing. Officials plan to move 450 loaded tankers and trucks from Jiribam under guard, but transport groups warn that upcoming rain will ruin the roads for good.

National Highway-2 is just as bad. It remains trapped in a gridlock of overlapping protests. Out-of-state drivers are stuck between the Namduilong-Kanglatongbi area, where a Naga economic blockade has dragged on for over two months, and a Kuki-enforced blockade at the Gamgiphai buffer zone.

Transporters and Drivers Council president Hijam Ranjit criticized the agency for failing to follow through on its work. He said, "the agency's decision contradicted earlier commitments made before Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand to restore the damaged highway without delay." Drivers and freight owners now demand the state government clear the blockades and finish repairs before essential commodities run dry.