Manipur setting up ethnic park for Sangai Festival

Our Correspondent

Imphal, June 20 (EMN): The Manipur government is constructing an ethnic park at Keibul Lamjao, the only floating national park, to host the upcoming Sangai Festival 2022 as the main venue. Huts representing different tribal groups of the state would be set up at the ethnic park.

Chief Minister N Biren Singh disclosed this while speaking during the silver jubilee celebration of the creation of Imphal East district, organised by the district administration, Imphal East at its office complex, Porompat in the outskirts of Imphal town on Monday.

The Sangai Festival is an annual cultural-cum-tourism festival of the state from November 21 to 30th every year since 2010. The name Sangai is derived from the shy and gentle brow antlered deer properly known as the Sangai, a regional name given to this rare species of deer available only at Keibul Lamjao, the floating national park located about 50 km south of Imphal.

Continuing his speech, Singh said, “As parents and guardians take up different professions to be able to provide best education to their wards, the government and its officials, as guardians of the public, should take up every possible effort to ensure welfare of the people and development of the state at large”.

Biren also urged concerned officials to take up action against those encroachers, adding that the state government had already taken up a mass drive for eviction of illegal encroachers at reserve forest areas and riversides for the larger interest of the people.

Manipur being a landlocked state, he stressed the need to preserve agricultural land and focus on increasing food production to become self-reliant.

The CM also laid the foundation stone for construction of a new mini-secretariat complex for the Imphal East district during the day’s function apart from releasing an informative comic book on land related issues titled “Lourunshang da Nongma”.

Imphal East district came into being on June 16, 1997 after bifurcation of the erstwhile Imphal district into Imphal East and Imphal West. Since then, the district administration has been functioning with three sub-divisions, sub-divisional collector circles and two CD blocks under its jurisdiction.