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Every morning before dawn, 54-year-old Laitonjam Sanamanbi set off from her village in the Ngariyan Hills with baskets of fresh vegetables and a rising sense of dread — for the journey to Imphal, once shared and affordable, has become costlier, lonelier and more suffocating. Like thousands in Manipur, she relies on privately hired vehicles in the absence of a functioning public transport system, one of the many factors choking the state’s roads and lungs.
Sanamanbi has been making the journey every day for the last two decades, sharing a vehicle with 5-6 passengers. But as her health declines with age, she finds the cramped rides increasingly difficult. “Now, along with three others, I share a reserved Eeco van exclusively for us,” she said. “We take fresh vegetables from our native village Huikap in Thoubal district to sell at Andro Parking in Wangkhei.”
They leave around 3.30 am, travelling nearly 20 km through the winding roads of the Ngariyan Hills, taking just over an hour to reach Imphal. There, she and fellow women vendors set up their stalls and earned their livelihoods. Like Sanamanbi, most women vendors in Imphal commute from villages in hired private vehicles to reach their preferred vending spots.
This switch to a more comfortable, albeit costlier, travel option meant each woman pays Rs 200 for the round trip and Rs 300 as freight charges to the driver-owner of the Eeco van. Sanamanbi spends Rs 500 daily on transport alone. Women vendors from Andro, who have to pass through a hilly terrain, face even higher transport costs than those from flatter areas. For instance, vendors travelling nearly 50 km from Thanga to sell fish in Imphal pay Rs 300-Rs 350 for the round trip.
According to the Revised GIS Based Master Plan for Greater Imphal - 2043 (MP-2043), “The Greater Imphal region had a master plan prepared in 1994 for the horizon year of 2011 and a city development plan prepared under JNNURM to direct the growth of the city and its corresponding infrastructure requirements.”
Imphal’s development was monocentric, with most public activity concentrated in the centre. Radial roads converged at Kangla Western Gate and the city’s expansion was constrained by natural features such as hills and rivers, the plan said.
Road transport remains Imphal’s principal mode of travel. Five national highways and two state highways merged into its radial network. Yet the lack of a bypass or ring road exacerbates congestion.
According to the 2011 Census, the Imphal Municipal Corporation area (34.75 square kilometre) had a population of 268,243 and 277,196 in its urban agglomeration. The Greater Imphal region had a gross population density of 35 persons per hectare. But central Zone A — particularly sub-zones A3, A4, A5, A6, A11 and E1 — had densities exceeding 150 persons per hectare. The city’s narrow roads, limited parking and lack of open spaces were key contributors to its chronic traffic congestion.
Despite a long-standing culture of daily commuting from villages, Imphal lacks a functional public transport system. “The few buses cannot be called public transport,” said Ram Wangkheirakpam, a senior activist. “There are very few buses and they are notoriously irregular.”
Except for a handful of routes to district headquarters, most mobility needs were met through privately operated vehicles. With Manipur’s projected population reaching 3.7 million in 2025 and 6,06,044 registered vehicles according to government data, residents relied almost entirely on private or para-transit modes, such as auto-rickshaws.
“In the complete absence of state-led transport, private operators like diesel autos, Wingers, Sumos and minibuses form the backbone of mobility,” said Wangkheirakpam. “This has spurred vehicle ownership, traffic congestion and worsening air quality.”
Surrounded by hills, the Imphal valley is naturally landlocked. A 20-25 minute drive from the city’s centre reveals a stark shift from concrete chaos to paddy fields and village clusters. Yet centralisation of key services — including hospitals, schools and markets — force daily commuter inflows.
Imphal’s average fine particulate matter (PM2.5) level stood at 26 in 2024, according to an analysis by Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment. While the city lacks major polluting industries, stone crushers and brick kilns dotted its periphery.
“The main sources of PM2.5 are diesel emissions and road/construction dust,” confirmed Brajakumar Tourangbam, director of environment and climate change for Manipur govenrment. “Manipur is also a dumping ground for phase-out vehicles from metros, which worsens pollution.”
Health impacts are increasingly evident. “We see a rise in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, eye and skin irritations and even cancer,” said Dr Homendro Irengbam, a senior government medical officer. “While diseases are multifactorial, PM2.5 inhalation certainly aggravates their prevalence.”
To tackle gridlock, the government began constructing a 51.23-km-long Imphal Ring Road to redirect traffic from the city centre. The move was widely welcomed.
Additionally, the Manipur Electric Mobility Policy, notified in August 2022, aimed for 20 per cent electric vehicle (EV) adoption by 2026. However, progress had been limited. Between January 2020 and May 2025, 12,556 diesel vehicles were digitised versus just 1,548 battery-operated and 62 pure EVs.
While EV adoption is a step forward, it comes with its own tensions. Diesel auto operators claim their incomes had dropped due to competition from e-rickshaws, leaving many financially strained.
Still, Wangkheirakpam cautioned against oversimplified solutions. “The mobility and pollution crisis cannot be solved by a ring road or EVs alone. What’s needed is a robust, affordable public transport system.”
This article is part of our series on how India moves, which looks at the relationship between air quality and human mobility in cities and towns.