Redefining Yaoshang Hueiyen-iStyle :: Meeting the ghost of Kadamtala mount
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, April 02 2013: The second day of the Hueiyen-Reach-Out trip to Jiribam sub-division of Imphal East district during Yaoshang holiday took us to Kadamtala mount where the once flourishing but now defunct Bamboo Chipping Plant, which was later remaned as Manipur Pulp & Allied Products Ltd, still stands regally spreading over an area of 15 acres of land reminding the visitors of its former glory.

After the foundation stone was laid on August 31, 1987 by Rishang Keishing, the then Chief Minister of Manipur, the Plant had been inaugurated by the then Chief Minister of Manipur RK Ranbir on May 21, 1990 as a subsidiary unit of Manipur Industrial Development Co-operation Ltd.

(MANIDCO) with the main objective of utilizing the available Bamboo resources in the State and earning income by selling the product to the Hindustan Paper Mill, Silchar in Assam.

The plant was formally incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 on October 27, 1988 .

Meeting the ghost of Kadamtala mount

What the plant did at the height of its operation was for chipping the Bamboo and send them in bulk to the paper mills at Silchar and other parts of Assam where there are high demand for manufacturing papers.

For over 7 to 8 years, the plant was doing roaring business providing jobs to many people, not just the permanent and adhoc staff engaged in the operation of the factory and the machines installed there, but also to private contractors supplying bamboos collected directly from small farmers located in different parts of Jiribam sub-division.

Until then, the farmers themselves had to make arrangement for selling the bamboos to some middlemen, who in turned sell them to the paper mills at Assam.

But as luck would have it, debilitating financial position and changing Government policies led to shut down of the plant along with other so-called sick industrial units like the Cement Factory at Ukhrul, the Manipur Spinning Mills at Loitang Khunou, the Khandsary Sugar Factory at Khangabok, etc.

However, 64-year old Wahengbam Ibomcha, who worked as a chowkidar when the Bamboo Chipping Plant was at its heyday, had a different story to tell - more than any change in the Government policies or poor financial position, it was the mismanagement by the officials posted at the plant that ultimately resulted in its closure.

"There was no lack of raw materials or electricity supply when the plant was in operation.

Within 1 to 2 hours, one truckload of chipped bamboo could be produced easily and truckloads of chipped Bamboos were sent to the paper mills at Silchar every day.

Some of us were even provided training for converting the chipped Bamboo into pulp for easy transportation.

So there was no question of declaring the Bamboo Chipping Plant as sick at that time.

But what to do when all the income generated were pocketed by the officials without ever reaching the coffer of the State Government", Ibomcha reasoned.

For the past 15 years, the Bamboo Chipping Plant at Kadamtala has remained defunct, and along with that shattering the hopes of many people.

A closer inspection of the existing infrastructures of the plant revealed although the buildings are in still good condition, most of the costly machine parts have been either removed or stolen and the entire complex, which is now overgrown with vegetation, has become a safe haven for strayed animals and immoral activities.

Nonetheless, one question that crossed our mind during the inspection was why can't the Government think of privatizing the plant and hand it over to some individuals who are willing to revive and operate it? .

Some years back, there were talks about setting up a bamboo processing unit at the present site being occupied by the defunct Bamboo Chipping Plant with funding from North Eastern Council (NEC).

But today no one knows what has happened to the proposed project.