New Delhi, May 20 -- 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 excl...