IMPHAL, April 16 � Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh today demanded a National Highway patrolling scheme during the 12th Plan on fast track basis.
The Chief Minister also expressed concern over the security of convoys carrying essential commodities on the two National Highways (NH 39 and NH 53) in Manipur in view of its vulnerability to disturbance from armed militants.
Ibobi made the observation while speaking at the Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi today, according to reports from Manipur Information Centre.
Ibobi urged the Union Home Ministry to advice the Border Road Organisation (BRO) to stick to the timeline of December 2013 for completing upgradation of National Highway 53 which connects Silcher in Assam to Imphal.
He said that the National Highway 53 together with the Imphal to Moreh Sector of National Highway 39 was the backbone of the proposed Trans-Asian Highway. He also emphasised the need for improvement of the telecom connectivity along NH-53 for effective security of the convoys.
Ibobi expressed his gratitude to the Union Home Minister for deploying a CRPF Bn for dedicated security to the Railways in the construction of Jiribam-Imphal Railway line. He urged the Centre to examine the feasibility of extending the railway line to border town of Moreh during Phase-III of the project.
He stated that the construction of the Rail-fed Oil Depot at Imphal by the Indian Oil Corporation was another key priority project to augment storage capacity of POL products in Manipur. He drew the attention of the Union Government for completion of the Depot within the next two years and also for enhancing the LPG bottling capacity at the IOC�s LPG bottling plant at Sekmai from 600 MT to 2,400 MT during the 12th Plan.
He stated that good infrastructure was an essential pre-requisite for the economic development of the region. An improvement milestone in the direction was the operationalisation of night landing facility at the Imphal Airport. The State Government acquired 640 acres of land for upgradation of Imphal Airport to international standards. He drew the attention of the Union Government to accord priority to the project under the Look East Policy.
The Chief Minister urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to sanction four Indian Reserve Battalions for protection of the 1,500 MW Tipaimukh Hydro-Power Project to be executed by a joint venture company constituted by the NHPC, Sutlej Jal Vikas Nigam Ltd and the Government of Manipur and the 66 MW Loktak Downstream Hydro Electricity Project being taken up as a joint venture between NHPC Ltd and Government of Manipur.
Ibobi also requested the Union Government to assist the State Government in obtaining assistance of the Japan International Co-operation Agency for the project of augmentation of water supply for Imphal with raw water from the Thoubal Multi Purpose Project.
He also reported that the State Government has successfully controlled the militant activities of the numerous Kuki tribal militant groups by entering into a tripartite agreement for the suspension of operations over the last three years. To carry forward the momentum, two more militant groups namely UTLA and KRA were also included within the fold of the Tripartite Agreement on March 24 this year.
Although the larger valley-based militant groups had so far not responded to the State Government�s offer for a dialogue, the State Government signed a Tripartite Agreement with one smaller militant group namely the KCP(MC)-Lallumba faction in August 2010. He suggested the Union Government for consideration of absorbing the former militants in the CPOs by relaxing the recruitment norms.
The Chief Minister also drew the attention of the MHA for accelerating the border fencing works and also settling the unsettled boundary pillars in Manipur Sector with Myanmar at appropriate level.
