Khwairamband flooded to waist level; scarcity of grocery items looms large
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, May 30 2024: The flood in Manipur has ravaged Khwairamband Keithel as the river water breached from Kairang side and other places inundated the market areas up to the level of waist.

The flood also laid to waste grains, medicines, clothes and several other items stored inside shops and godowns at the market (Khwairamband) .

The Sangai Express took out an inspection tour at the Khwairamband Kei-thel and the keithel areas were found witnessing the worst flooding in recent times.

Though the three Ima Keithels are not inundated as the market sheds are somewhat higher than the road in the adjacent areas, many places adjacent to the Kei-thel such as Paona Keithel, Thangal Keithel, MG Avenue, BT Road, Governor complex, Kangjeibung and the road stretches at Wahengbam Leikai, Naga-mapal, Khuyathong, Kanglapat etc were flooded upto waist level of an adult when this report was filed.

Khwairamband flooded to waist level; scarcity of grocery items looms large

The police swung into action and blocked the roads at multiple points and only vehicles which came to retrieve wares were allowed to enter the Khwairamband Keithel areas.

The police, however, faced severe problems in controlling the situation as many people came out to watch the flood like some sort of festivity.

This reporter also spoke to some of the shopkeepers and traders at Khwai-ramband Keithel and heard their grievances.

One non local shopkeeper Shahu Jain said that the flooding at Khwairamband Keithel began last night at around 10 .

Saying that he went out to see the situation at his shop soon after he heard about the water-logging, he added that he, however, was unable to take out his wares which included bags of potato, onion, rice, flour etc as they were very heavy.

Saying that water level rose immensely at around 2.30 am today, the shopkeeper added that most of his wares have been submerged.

The shopkeeper said that he nonetheless will see if the grains and vegetables can be used after drying them again.

N Chaoba who runs an apparel store stated that he was informed of the water-logging at Khwairamband Keithel at around 10 pm.

Saying that some of the clothes kept on the floor for selling were found soaked and some others floating when he reached his shop, Chaoba added that the water level rose upto waist level in the wee hours and many of his clothes have now been damaged by the flood water.

Chaoba said that he runs his business by taking a loan from the bank.

"I may not be able to recover from the losses incurred," Chaoba said with a heavy heart.

MH Devkumar Sharma who is the owner of MS Leima Agency (medicines distributor and wholesaler) situated at Rupmahal Tank said that he reached his shop at around 11 last night and found the medicines kept on the floor soaked.

Saying that he was able to save the medicines kept on the racks, he added that most of the medicines, unfortunately, have been damaged by the flood water.

Saying that most of the liquid medicines kept in his godown were also found underneath the water, he continued that the water-logging has devastated many other shops and godowns too.

Romesh who runs a bookstore at Paona Keithel said that a large quantity of his books has been spoiled by the flood.

The books were found floating inside the shop, he said and added that he was able to save only the books which were kept on racks.

"I don't know whether the books can be used again after drying them," he said, visibly worried.

Ningthoujam Jiya said that she came to Khwairamband Keithel to sell vegetables early in the morning and found the keithel areas severely inundated.

Saying that she initially started selling her vegetables at the road median, Jiya maintained that she moved to Keishampat as the water level at Khwairamband Keithel kept on increasing.

Sanahanbi, another vendor at Khwairamband tem- porary market shed, said that she returned home last night after keeping her wares which included silk clothes and vegetables at the keithel.

Maintaining that she was informed of the water-logging late last night, Sanahabi sobbingly added that she couldn't retrieve her wares as all of them had been submerged under the water.

It was the silk clothes which I'm worried about, she added.

Continuing that she also takes a loan from a bank, Sanahanbi added that all her hopes have been shattered now.

Sub Inspector Chingabam Somorjit who was on duty at BT Road said that the water which inundated the keithel areas flowed from Kairang and some other sides.

He also said that the water level of Nambul River has also risen due to flooding in the surrounding areas.