How about the Salt Lake Manipur Bhavan ? : Land acquired at Dwarka
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 13 2020 -

Land purchased for the third Manipur Bhavan at Delhi, that is after the existing Bhavans at Chanakyapuri and Sadar Patel Marg.

All well and good, but one hopes that the process to set up a new Manipur Bhavan does not begin and end with the process of purchasing land at Dwarka.

Delhi is the destination of many from Manipur and one only has to take a look at the flight bookings to get an idea of how many actually make a beeline for the National capital.

And many more travel by train from Guwahati.

The rush is all that more during the admission season and not all actually stay at the Bhavan at Chanakyapuri for accommodation is always a problem and not all can get rooms there.

The one at Sadar Patel Marg is more or less reserved for the VIPs, particularly from the ruling party and getting a room there is next to impossible for the many ordinary travellers who go to Delhi for many reasons.

It is not only students and their guardians who proceed to Delhi but also patients needing treatment at Delhi.

Add the attendants who accompany the patients and one can get an idea of the rush to Delhi.

The proposed new Bhavan at Dwarka should certainly go a long way in addressing the problem of accommodation for the many who travel to Delhi for different purposes and one hopes that the needed push is given to ensure that the new Bhavan serves the ever increasing number of visitors to Delhi from Manipur.

So now Manipur has its Bhavans at Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati and this is welcome for a Bhavan can surely provide the sort of ambience which can make the visitors feel at ease and comfortable in an alien city.

This is all that more so for the first time travellers to big cities like Delhi and Kolkata.

At the moment, Manipur has one Manipur Bhavan at Rowland Road in Kolkata but given the fact that many proceed to this city, the lone Bhavan is hard pressed to provide accommodation to all those who come looking for boarding.

Moreover Kolkata is also the city which doubles up as the stop for many travelling to other cities and the need to provide the accommodation to them all is something increasingly felt.

This is where the need for a second Bhavan has long been felt.

It was in line with this that a plot of land has been acquired for the second Manipur Bhavan at Salt Lake in Kolkata but since then not much has been heard in the last 15 or so years.

Land acquired and construction process started but this is the last that has been heard of since then.

No one seems to know what has happened, but it stands that Nagaland House or Nagaland Bhavan just near the proposed second Manipur Bhavan in Kolkata is today standing tall.

So is Mizoram Bhavan.

Time for the BJP led Government in Imphal to look into this and see how the construction work can get started all over again.

A single Bhavan at Rowland Road is unable to meet the growing demand of the travellers and it is only right that the right push be given to the construction work at the second Bhavan at Salt Lake.

Third Manipur Bhavan at Delhi, this is good and welcome yet at the same time it would do good for the Government to turn its attention to the second Manipur Bhavan at Salt Lake in Kolkata.