Green Gold Day

Pothashang News Service

Imphal, September 18: Manipur joins the rest of the globe launching the World Bamboo Day on the theme ‘E3= Environment, Energy and Employment’, which was today organised by World Bamboo Day Celebration  Committee, Manipur at Singjamei, Imphal as its ninth episode.

The observation by its theme carries the message of bamboo as a source of employment by adopting bamboo industries which can substitute the hazardous materials that affect the environment, while at the same time can produce bio-energy, said Sukumar Haobam, coordinator, Bamboo Forum of India.

To add attraction to the bamboo industries and to encourage the bamboo artisans twenty stalls are opened here displaying bamboo and its allied products, he added. The exhibition sales shall continue for another four days.

The World Bamboo Day is celebrated to increase the awareness of the naturally grown Bamboo globally. Bamboo has been a daily element for the regions where bamboo grows. “Manipur is a region where bamboo are grown in 30 % of its forest area. Since the early days it has been associating to the traditional people of the state from the child birth till the end of life”, said Sukumar.

Yumnam Khemchand, speaker, Manipur legislative assembly in his message to the occasion said this celebration will raise awareness in the minds of the people how wonder the plant called Bamboo is. It is its uniqueness of this plant, helping man from prehistoric times in multifaceted ways that we began, it added.

Khemchand took a lead role to make the celebration successful, supported by departments of horticulture and soil conservation, agriculture, forest, ecology and environment, handloom and textiles, planning, university and higher education, and Thokchom Buddhabir Associates, an architectural and infrastructural consultancy firm in Imphal.

Bamboo, a perennial woody grass is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet. It matures in about for years and can yield 3 to 6 tonnes of culm, which is counted as good as timber, says B.N. Mohanty, director Indian Plywood Industries and Research Institute, IPIRTI in his message to the celebration in Imphal.

North Eastern region with 65% of bamboos in India is endowed with vast untapped resources. However till date various applications with bamboo are primarily limited to handicrafts and traditional housing sectors of huts and cottages. Although a good number of mat and strip based technologies have been innovated by the scientists of IPIRTI for manufacture of plethora of high-end panel products of these technologies is poorly lacking in bamboo rich NER including Manipur. IPIRTI targets to create interest in machines, introduce skills and capacity that is critical for Manipur.

Bamboo is not just for housing or furniture or for home decorations, it’s shoots are normally consumed as food in the state. Fermented bamboo shoot locally known as Soibum can prevent various forms of cancer according to medical experts, said Sukumar. One can order Soibum products online @ Giskaa.com, added Sukumar.

The delegates and participants in the celebration were served with varieties of bamboo shoots cuisines. Participants in the celebration received saplings of bamboo which former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee called it as Green Gold.