Of the many irritants that we encounter every day, the traffic in Imphal is one that chokes us ceaselessly. The traffic signal installed at various junctions of the town nothing more than a decorative structure. One cannot imagine when the structure would start to blink. Traffic officials might point out that irregularities in power supply have hindered the functioning of the signals. That would be unreasonable as most of the signal has been installed with ‘dedicated line’ (to use electricity department’s favorite vocabulary) running at its vicinity. There might be other infrastructural deficit and other roadblocks that do not provide a viable operational environment for the signals to function. In simple terms, Imphal is too primitive for a modern day necessity like traffic science to develop on its roads. The same can be applied to the outlook of the people who uses the road every day. Are our citizens fit enough to understand and respect the rules of traffic that must be followed for their own safety. Self-conceited, so called VIPs and their cavalcades is the number one enemy of traffic rules. Next are the army and the paramilitary forces that regularly break traffic rules. They act like the kings of yore while parking there vehicles. IFP has often carried pictures of security vehicles breaking traffic rules. The busy market areas of Paona Bazar and Thangal Bazar are like their battalion playground for them. They pay no heed to the request of the traffic control police who are on duty. The recent drive against double parking in these two market areas have witness the haughtiness of the security forces. Their nature of indifference to traffic rules will not make them a knight of gallantry of any kind. Needless to remind that the word “discipline” is taken as synonymous with those in the armed forces; shiny boots, starched uniforms, tight belts on the waist, fitting headgear – the customary salutation that everyone admire and the weapon that they carry should not be the end in itself. We know how organised they are in their barracks, of how they follow their time, their orderliness in almost everything. The irony is that they left behind all these attributes inside the barracks as soon as they step out from their compounds. One cannot understand the need of coming in an oversized armoured vehicle for shopping in narrow lanes like Paona bazar. The cheap imitation items of Chinese made that are available in plenty in Paona bazar could attract anyone. These are things which are not found in CSD canteens. One should not come in an armoured cavalcade with their families to buy Moreh international items. The AFSPA might give them impunity to kill anybody just at mere suspect. The Act might cease to exist or not in the Book, but traffic rules are permanent, which are subject to change from time to time. It is said that the morals of our armed personnel are above the rest, trained to respond to any kind of crisis which threatens the security of the nation. The kind of responsibility bestowed on them is paramount beyond doubt. Therefore a simple act of adhering to traffic rule should not be a burden to them. Moreover their conduct while they move in cavalcade on the road is even more distasteful. Unrestrained honking and whistle blowing to shoo away others on the road is their regular practice. Whatever the emergency may be the armed forces do not have moral right to treat the civilians on the road like flies or worms. This kind of false superiority that they display on the road of Manipur is hardly seen in other parts of the country. Is it a psychological warfare to instill a sense of fear among the people? Having said all this we cannot deny the waywardness of the local security forces as well. The traffic control at present is functioning without a separate SP. There are numbers of poorly trained traffic control personnel. On top of that there is no separate budget earmarked for traffic in the state. The uninitiated city planners with their ad hoc policies, the unchecked number of vehicles, and the non-conformist citizens who breaks all kinds of rules add more woes to the problem. But we are no asking for Kohinoor diamond or the Taj Mahal as a gift from the VIPs and the security. We are simply asking them to follow traffic rules so that the rest may follow.
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