Ukhrul: The Ukhrul-Jessami National Highway 202 came to a grinding halt after a massive road sinking occurred between Old Central Jail and New Langdang village, around 7 km from Ukhrul town.
More than 100 vehicles, including 20 loaded trucks coming from Nagaland, plying along the highway are reportedly stranded.
According to Langdang village youths and locals, the first road sinking occurred on Tuesday night (July 2). With the intervention of the local MLA, the damage was fixed by NHIDCL. However, due to continued downpours in the region, the sinking reoccurred at the same location, stretching about 300 ft, with a depth of around 6 to 10 ft, causing immense inconvenience to commuters, mainly those from Ukhrul’s northern villages.
“Many vehicles coming from both sides are stranded in the affected area, and commuters as well as locals had to physically push the stranded vehicles. For heavy vehicles, two JCBs were deployed to pull them out from the sinking area,” said Worpeimi, a Langdang village resident whose house is near the affected highway.
He further informed that smaller vehicles could cross the sinking road with the help of commuters and locals. However, around 20 goods carrier trucks coming from Nagaland have been stranded for the last five days.
The only temporary solution for the highway is to place stones and chips as the road was pulled down from Langdang stream, said a Langdang villager.
The sinking road has also damaged the water pipeline that connects Ukhrul district headquarters to Shirui hills, leading to disturbances in water supply in Ukhrul town.
Since the outbreak of the crisis in Manipur, NH 202, which connects Nagaland from Jessami, a border village in Ukhrul district, has been one of the lifelines of the state. Previously, the highway was in deplorable condition with potholes and cracks in many portions, causing severe inconvenience to commuters. This lifeline urgently needs attention from the concerned authorities as the general public faces nightmares in commuting along the highway.