All passengers travelling to and from Imphal were stranded on Thursday when travel agents launched a wildcat strike, suspending the inter-State bus services and shutting down booking counters. In the absence of rail services, people depend solely on buses.
A spokesman of the travel agents told The Hindu that a youth, who identified himself as a rebel, asked them why they were plying the inter-State buses on Highway 39 that passes through Nagaland and not Highway 53 that skirts the State. When the agents pointed out that they were avoiding the highway because of the bad road condition, the rebel allegedly threatened them.
The highway is practically a bridle path, and at several places buses and trucks mired in mud need to be pushed ahead by tractors. It takes 10 days for the vehicles to travel the 220 km-long highway.