The Smart City Mission promised modern urban infrastructure, improved mobility and better public services. Yet, long after the mission officially concluded, two of its most visible projects in Imphal—the mechanized rotary parking facility at Nagamapal and the elevators installed at pedestrian footbridges across the city—remain non-functional, raising serious questions over planning, accountability and the prudent use of public funds.
Among the most glaring examples is the mechanized rotary parking facility at Nagamapal, envisioned as a landmark solution to Imphal’s chronic parking crisis. Designed to accommodate 42 cars and 72 two-wheelers through an automated rotary system, the project was expected to ease roadside parking and reduce traffic congestion in the busy commercial areas of Thangal Bazar and Khwairamband Bazar.
The reality, however, presents a stark contrast.
The massive steel structure stands idle while vehicles continue to line both sides of the roads, traffic congestion remains unabated and commuters continue to struggle daily. The parking facility, despite the substantial public investment made in its construction, has yet to deliver the very purpose for which it was conceived.
The Nagamapal unit formed part of an ambitious Smart City plan to establish four mechanized rotary parking facilities across Imphal. Together, the projects were estimated to cost Rs. 33.65 crore and were expected to accommodate 168 cars and 280 two-wheelers. Officials had projected that the initiative would significantly improve urban traffic management and pedestrian movement. Those assurances remain largely unfulfilled.
Equally troubling is the condition of the elevators installed at pedestrian footbridges across Imphal. Built to ensure barrier-free access for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, pregnant women and others with limited mobility, the elevators remain non-operational even after the commission of the bridges years back. As a result, the footbridges remain inaccessible to many of the very people for whom the lifts were intended, reducing an important public convenience to little more than an unfinished promise.
Taken together, the idle parking facility and the non-functional elevators have become symbols of a deeper governance problem—one in which infrastructure is constructed, showcased and completed, but not made operational for public use.
The Smart City Mission officially ended in 2025, while similar projects across the country were reportedly completed by March 2026. Yet, there has been no clear explanation from the authorities regarding the present status of these facilities or which department is responsible for operating and maintaining them after the mission’s conclusion.
The absence of accountability has only fuelled public frustration.
Residents are now asking questions that deserve clear answers. Why has the mechanized parking facility not been commissioned despite repeated assurances? If the project is complete, what is preventing its operation? Why do the elevators installed at public footbridges continue to remain out of service? Were proper operational and maintenance plans ever put in place before these projects were declared complete? Most importantly, who is accountable for ensuring that public assets created with taxpayers’ money actually serve the public?
Urban infrastructure derives its value not from inauguration ceremonies or project reports, but from everyday public use. A parking system that parks no vehicles and elevators that carry no passengers cannot be regarded as successful infrastructure, regardless of the amount spent on their construction.
The prolonged inactivity of these facilities has widened the gap between official claims and public experience. What were once showcased as symbols of a modern and “Smart” Imphal now stand as visible reminders that infrastructure without functionality is little more than an expensive display.
Citizens are demanding transparency, accountability and immediate action. They want the government to identify the departments responsible for these projects, disclose the reasons behind the prolonged delay in making them operational, fix responsibility for the lapse and announce a definite timeline for commissioning both the mechanized parking facility and the footbridge elevators.
Until then, the unused mechanized parking system and silent elevators will continue to stand across Imphal—not as symbols of urban progress, but as enduring reminders that public infrastructure is judged not by the crores spent on its construction, but by whether it ultimately serves the people.
