Manipur Tourism
By Oinam Sunanda Devi
Nestling deep within a lush green corner of northeast India is a beautiful little Shangrila called Manipur, literally meaning 'a jeweled land'. This little corner is a veritable paradise on earth where Mother Nature has been extra generous in her bounty. An oval-shaped valley surrounded by blue-green hills, rich in art and tradition has inspired description such as the 'Switzerland of the East', with its cascading rapids, tripping rivers, carpet of flowers, exotic blooms and lazy lakes. Blessed with an amazing variety of flora and fauna, Manipur promises to be a great tourist discovery of the 21st century. Amongst the tourist spots, the most famous one which attracts a lots of people every year and whose presence makes Manipur proud, is the Loktak Lake, the largest fresh water lake in the Northeast — a veritable miniature inland sea. Its beauty has earned it the name 'Jewel of Manipur'. The biological richness and uniqueness of habitat resulted in its designation as a 'wetland of international importance' under the Ramsar Convention. Not only this, considering the economic value of the lake to the communities that depend on its resources, it is also called 'the lifeline of Manipur valley'. And also, it is on this lake that the Keibul Lamjao National Park is situated. It is the only floating National Park in the world, formed by run-off soil particles in the lake and getting bound by the roots of various species of aquatic plants and grasses, the floating mats locally called phumdi remain afloat due to its low specific gravity. This phumdi or floating mats serve as the only natural habitat for the Manipur brow-antlered deer (Cervus eldi eldi), known locally as Sangai, one of the most endangered cervids in the world which is closer to extinction in the wild than any other cervid. A well formed phumdi can easily support the weight of human beings also and even huts have been made on phumdi providing floating dwellings for the local communities. The lake also supports a large variety of floating, submerged and rooted aquatic macrophytes, etc and not only plant life; Loktak is also famous for its animal life with rich ichthyofauna. The fishes of this lake are much tastier than the fishes caught from other rivers due to its rich nutrient load. On the other hand, the lake also serves as a nesting and breeding ground for a large number of migratory waterfowls which visit the lake every winter. In spite of being a rich biodiversity spot, it also acts as a large reservoir during monsoon season without which the valley would be subjected to high floods. It supplies sufficient freshwater during the dry periods. The wetland's enormous fish resources support large fishing communities in and around the lake area, in particular the inhabitants of villages Moirang, Ithing, Karang and Thanga, who completely rely for their livelihood on fish catches. All these unique features make the lake a little wonder paradise on the far eastern side of India. The shimmering blue water of the lake, labyrinthine boat routes and colorful water plants along with its rich animal fauna, the lake is a dreamland for many poets and naturalists at one time. But today, the lake is seriously threatened on account of damaging land use practices in its catchment, overexploitation of resources by a burgeoning population and its growing demand for land and food and also faulty and unsustainable economic development. The rich biological diversity of the lake is eroding rapidly, as is its capacity to support the communities living off it. It is choking with weeds, silting up and being encroached upon from all sides, consequently shrinking in size, being polluted, losing its erstwhile rich and varied faunal, floral as well as other biological resources. The matter becomes worst when local people forced entry into the Keibul Lamjao National Park in 1979, as an agitation against enforcement measures in the park. Opposition by the park staff led to violence with grassy patches being set ablaze causing serious disturbance to the Sangai and other animals besides loss of fodder. The local people want to reduce the park area from 40 sq km to about 15 sq km, so that they could fish, graze cattle and collect thatching grasses and edible plants from the protected area. The incident revealed the extreme degree of human pressure on the wetland due to rapid growth of population. In order to meet their demand, extensive deforestation in the catchment for industrial and commercial purposes by the local people for fuel, fodder and small timber have, over the years, laid bare the surrounding hill slopes resulting in rampant soil erosion. To make the matter more worse the jhum cultivation in nearby hills results deposition of enormous quantities of silt on the lake during rainy seasons, making the lake shallower day by day. Also, large quantities of fertilizers and animal wastes find their way into the water from its intensively cultivated catchment, raising nutrient levels, leading to prolific growth of weeds and accelerating eutrophication. The accumulation of decaying matter is adding to the already high magnitude of siltation. Besides, pollution also plays a major role in degrading the lake quality. Sewage and chemicals brought into the lake from the towns and the washing in of hazardous pesticides and insecticides sprayed on crops is damaging the water quality of the lake resulting mass loss of aquatic fauna including water fowls and other mammals. On the other hand, the lake is also losing its enormous growth potential for fish because fishing pressure is so high that even fries and fingerlings are caught all the year round. Hunting pressure on water birds is also increasing day by day. Large numbers of migratory ducks are shot everyday and even the most endangered cervid Sangai has been killed mercilessly by local people and poachers for meat, horns, etc. As a result, the number of waterfowls and Sangai is decreasing rapidly leading to the verge of extinction. Now its habitat is so threatened that the Keibul Lamjao National Park has been listed in IUCN's Register of Threatened Protected Areas of the World since 1985. In addition to the problems threatening the existence of the lake, there is another problem arising nowadays — insurgency, which indirectly affects the lake's ecosystem. Its impact on the lake and local fishing communities is becoming worse day by day. In order to control the insurgency problem, the government kept paramilitary forces in the Sendra Island, one of the most beautiful islands of the lake, which is the main tourist attraction. Thousands of tourists come every year for a glimpse of the lake's shimmering blue water interspersed with phumdi and varied aquatic flora along with the labyrinthine boat routes. What a view it used to be from the Sendra Island — "a little paradise on earth". But now there is the base camp of army in the island and as a result, local fishermen are not allowed to enter the island. As the lake remains undisturbed even for fishing, the rate of eutrophication increases rapidly and there is little open water space remaining in comparison to the mass of phumdi, which gradually decreases the water quality and also its beauty. Since the lake is included under Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance, many conservation works are going on to protect this amazing lake but most of them are not so effective. The lake's ecological character is deteriorating day by day due to lack of maintenance and management skills. To solve the problem, the North Eastern Council set up the Loktak Development Authority (LDA) in 1987 for proper management and development of the wetland. Finding appropriate solutions to the myriad problems afflicting the lake would involve investigating the basic causes for the scarcity of agricultural land, pastures and fishing areas. There must also be some research and monitoring program on the lake's nutrient enrichment, pollutant load, siltation rate, etc. Besides, manual and mechanical removal of weed plant species must be practiced. There must also be a ban on over-fishing of fries and fingerlings. Strict laws must be enforced to control the encroachment of lake's peripheral areas by local people and hunting of waterfowls and other mammals should be banned. Keibul Lamjao needs to be safeguarded from the intrusions of all kinds. All these measures will be successful only when the people of Manipur, especially the local people, understand the importance of the lake that supports many lives. It is a known fact that for any conservation program, community participation is a must. The government must also devote some of its time to discuss the problems faced by this lake, and take up immediate measures to save this amazing water body. Due to the prevailing situation, now the lake has been placed in the informal list of threatened Ramsar sites of the world. Only a concerted effort on the part of official agencies, professionals, NGOs and the local communities themselves on this delicately balanced, biologically rich wetland ecosystem can save Loktak Lake from its demise. It is time we did something urgently; otherwise, time will run away leaving little to save this 'little paradise'.
(Courtesy: The Assam Tribune)