Initiatives for bamboo
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: December 03 2011 -

A sofa made entirely of Bamboo at Eco-Crafts Bazaar at Mapal Kangjeibung in Feb 2007 :: Pix - David M Mayum

Chingthou Keicha from the desk

Since time immemorial, bamboo has always been an inseparable part of Manipur. It is used almost in all aspects of life in our society.

Houses, walls, roofs, dams, chicken coops, barriers, gates, handicraft items, paper production, furniture, fencing, racks, household utility items like Yangkok, Thumuk, Phoura, Merook etc are some mentionable usage of bamboo and bamboo products among various others in our society.

Besides Manipur has its own historical trace to the ancient period of history for the usage of bamboos in religious matters. Official records indicate that about 14 pc of the total land area of Manipur is covered by bamboo forests. Apart from the bamboo forests, bamboo groves are found in almost all the homesteads and residential areas in the valley.

Since, it has become an inseparable part of our day to day life a house without a bamboo grove (Wappal) faces many inconveniences in various domestic matters and incidents.

In olden times, bamboo plants are planted around the boundary of a housing area as a natural fencing from which the typical Manipuri name Wappal was derived from, which means barrier of bamboos.

Besides from its various usage, the bamboo groves also play an important role in improving the atmospheric and climatic condition of the state. Out of the 1200 bamboo species found in the whole world and 126 in India Manipur alone is said to have 52 indigenous bamboo species.

Longa, Utang, Khokwa, Saneibi, Marubop, Laiwa, Liwa, Unap, Watangkhoi, Wamu, Unal, Moubiwa, etc. are some common species of bamboo readily and abundantly available in the state. The Tenwa which is in available vastly in the Koubru hill and other hill ranges of Manipur is famous for making arrows in olden times.

Despite the vast usage of bamboos in almost all aspects of life bamboo, plantation in the state has been reduced distinctively in both hills and plain in the past decades.

The seven North Eastern states excluding Sikkim shares around 50 percent of the total bamboo production of India and Assam is at the top list.

While other North Eastern states has recorded significant increase in the annual bamboo productions, Manipur witnessed a dramatic decrease in the annual production rate in the past five years according to a report submitted to the Rajya Sabha recently.

The ever increasing rodent population in the state, which resulted in mass bamboo flowering, plays an important role in the dramatic decrease.

Adding to it is the lack of government initiatives, lack of proper harvest treatment, technology for product development, inadequate trained manpower etc which become a major hindrance in the development of bamboo production.

Moreover bamboo afforestation and proper grooming techniques are needed indeed from time to time to sustain the productivity of bamboo.

Developing bamboo resources will not only increase the per capita income of the state but also the life of the rural household.

When many indigenous bamboo species are on the verge of extinction, the initiatives of the Manipur government's Forest Department to set up a Bamboo setum at the Langol Reserve Forest to protect and preserve the indigenous bamboo species is indeed a welcome sign.

For this purpose, a survey of the state forest department has recognised around 36 indigenous species of bamboo in the state. Even though plantation works will begin from the upcoming rainy season, it will not take much time for the bamboo setum to become ready for visitors since bamboo is a fast growing grass. However government officials should do their duty sincerely in order to make the project a successful one.

Even while hoping this project becomes successful, there are still lot of initiatives to be taken up by the state government to increase the bamboo production. Since the bamboo setum is meant only to preserve the indigenous bamboo species, it will not bring any development in the bamboo industries.

As bamboo is abundantly available in the state and many products can be made out of the bamboos, taking up initiative to increase the bamboo production and setting up opportunities for bamboo based industries in the state are the need of the hour.