Guwahati: More than 250 passengers left Imphal for Guwahati on Monday as public transport on the Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati route continued for the third consecutive day, despite a flare-up between Naga and Kuki-Zo communities at Taphou village in Senapati district that briefly delayed the movement of vehicles.Five vehicles carrying the passengers, including women and children, left for Dimapur and Guwahati at around 1 pm under tight security after govt intervention helped defuse the situation at Taphou, along NH-2, CM’s secretariat said.Manipur govt said members of both communities involved in the incident had agreed to maintain peace, allowing the vehicles to proceed. Security personnel and road-opening parties were deployed along vulnerable stretches of NH-2 to ensure safe passage.Meanwhile, around 100 passengers who had left Guwahati on Sunday reached ISBT in Imphal safely on Monday afternoon. No untoward incident was reported during their journey.The reopening of the route is significant as NH-2, the main road link between Imphal and Nagaland, has remained a sensitive corridor amid the ethnic conflict that began in Manipur in May 2023.Passengers arriving in Imphal welcomed the resumption of the service. Ngangbam Biren of Thoubal district said his journey from Guwahati had been peaceful and described travelling on the route after more than three years as a memorable experience.Another passenger, Okram Sunil Kumar Singh of Wangjing in Thoubal district, said the journey was safe and urged others to use the interstate transport service. He also thanked the Naga and Kuki-Zo communities living along NH-2 for facilitating the smooth passage of the vehicles.The bus service was restored on Aug 21, when public transport on the Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati route via NH-2 resumed after more than three years. The service had been suspended since the outbreak of ethnic violence in Manipur on May 3, 2023.
