Manipur faces looming supply crisis as freight operators avoid highway routes
Transporters increasingly refuse to run freight into Manipur, citing rising costs, longer travel times and delays on the state’s key highway routes.
Manipur is again facing the risk of shortages of essential goods as freight operators from outside the state increasingly avoid sending trucks into Manipur. Traders say the impact is already being felt in day-to-day purchases and on work sites, with supplies becoming less regular and prices moving upward.
With Manipur being landlocked, road transport remains the main link for items such as food grains, vegetables, construction materials, petroleum products and medicines. The worsening logistics situation is affecting both availability and affordability, especially for families already dealing with the disruptions caused by ethnic conflict that began in 2023.
Long delays and higher costs push transporters away
A major reason for the slowdown is that the current journey times for freight have become far longer than before. Earlier, a round trip between Guwahati and Imphal could be completed in about three to four days, which allowed transporters to make multiple trips each month. Now, the same route can take roughly 25 to 30 days for a single round trip, cutting earning opportunities while increasing fuel use, maintenance and driver expenses.
Wholesale distributor Nahakpam Shanta said transporters no longer find it financially viable to keep running vehicles into Manipur. In his assessment, trips that used to be possible several times a month have dropped sharply, while overhead costs keep rising.
NH-2 disruptions and limited convoy movement on NH-37
The problem is closely linked to continued disruption on National Highway-2, the traditional Imphal–Dimapur route. Due to recurring blockades connected to competing demands by different groups, freight traffic has shifted to National Highway-37, the Imphal–Jiribam route.
However, NH-37 is facing widening and upgrading works that have damaged road stretches, created bottlenecks and extended travel delays. Loaded trucks now take around 11 to 15 days for the Guwahati–Imphal–Guwahati journey on NH-37, and in some cases it can take up to about a month. On top of road conditions, commercial vehicles are allowed to move only as part of security convoys, and convoy schedules are limited, with no convoy movement reported on Sundays. Traders say hundreds of trucks can remain waiting near the Assam–Manipur border at Jiribam for clearance as a result.
