Five bamboo pioneers from Manipur including Wildlife warden of Manipur’s Tamenglong district Nehemiah Panmei and one green activist from Ladakh were honoured during the World Bamboo Day (WBD) celebration in Imphal on Wednesday.
Haobam Sukumar, man behind the WBD celebration in Imphal was also among the persons honoured on the day.
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The other bamboo pioneers of Manipur who were honoured during WBD include L Bhubol Singh (Bambbo handicraft), Kh Ibomcha (Bamboo furniture) and Ancha Maring (Bamboo crafts).
The WBD celebration was held under the aegis of Bamboo Forum of India(BFI) and South Asia Bamboo Foundation(SABF) at Lamyanba shanglen in Imphal to promote bamboo and it’s utility for sustainable development in the state.
In his address during the celebration, Lok Sabha MP Dr R K Ranjan from Manipur expressed the need to popularize bamboo and also to understand its sustainable utility together as the livelihood of 70 per cent of state’s population associated with the bamboo based activities.
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Deputy chairman (Planning board) S Rajen and chairperson Anwar Hussain of Manipur State Minorities Commission also spoke on the occasion.
Meanwhile Kamesh Salam, founder of the WBD which are being celebrated across 40 countries, requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to talk about bamboo and its utility in his ‘Maan ki baat’ to give a strong message to the nation.
Kamesh, executive director of SABF on the sidelines of WBD told Northeast Now that such move will promote bamboo in India and globally because our Prime Minister’s speeches are liked by the country.
Bamboo can also contribute to Prime Minister’s call on single-use plastic and help the rural and bamboo economy, he said.
Kamesh who founded WBD in 2009 during the 8th World Bamboo Congress in Bangkok, also expressed his desire to dedicate this year’s WBD as a tribute to Mahatama Gandhi on his 150th birthday.
On the other hand Namgyal Durbuk told this reporter that his Ladakh based organization ‘Go-green Go-organic’ which had so far planted 4.5 lakh trees in Himalayas since 2014.
He also said he is targeting to plant one billion plants in association with like minded parties to ‘green Himalayas’ by holding a formal launching programme in New Delhi on October 6 next.
The WBD celebration here will continue for five-day events at Patsoi and Singjamei both in Imphal west district under the aegis of SABF and BFI.
India has 15.69 million hectares of land under bamboo cultivation, the second largest after China but the country’s share in world bamboo trade is insignificant due to lack of research, development and other visible industry.
In the Northeast, only 28 per cent of the land is under bamboo cultivation but it contributes nearly 66 per cent of India’s total bamboo production.
Release of WBD celebration souvenir, Bamboo flute recital, display of bamboo made products and lunch with bamboo dishes are main highlights of this year’s WBD celebration.