Eco-park coming up at Kakching
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 11 2010: With the objective of putting Kak-ching on the map of tourism in addition to being a front-runner in the field of agriculture and education, an eco-tourism park is being developed at Uyokching in full gear.

The eco-park is being developed over an area of three acres although Uyokching covers around 15.5 acres.

Acknowledging the legends of the place which said that the crow originated from here, a pair of crow��one male and a female, sculpted artificially have been enshrined in a south-western corner of the park.

It is also believed that the park is the abode of Lord Shiva.

With development of the park, the temple which was there since earlier times has been enlarged and re-novated.

The temple is equipped with a big mandop in front.

The place where the eco-tourism park is set to come up

Again, giving a historical character, a fountain constructed in the park has been named Haoreibi Shampubi Fountain in memory of the legendary Haoreibi Shampubi.

According to mythology of the land, Haoreibi Shampubi who was on a rendezvous with her lover was killed at Uyokching by her adversaries.

With trees and flowers, both exotic and indigenous planted around the park maturing, the park is transforming itself into a beautiful place.

The panoramic view seen from the hill-top located inside the park is breath-taking.

The park which was declared a historical park by Art and Culture Department in 2008 has a cave in the eastern side.

Determined to develop the historical park into one of the most attractive tourist spots, MLA Y Surchandra started developing the park since 2009 .

Rare indigenous flowers like Ingellei, Kaboklei, Malika, Kundo etc which have close links with the myths and legends of Manipur are blooming elegantly inside the park.

With more than 7000 species of plants growing in and around it, the park has evolved into a mini bio-diversity hotspot.

MLA Surchandra said that the temple of Lord Shiva and the adjoining mandop were built with the MP fund of the Lok Sabha MP at the cost of Rs 20 lakhs and Rs 10 lakhs respectively.

The park is being looked after by three care-takers.

So far, Rs 66 lakhs have been spent in developing the park to the present stage.

This huge amount would never suffice to develop the park to the present fascinating stage without the help and contributions from the clubs and NGOs of Kakching area, Surchandra said.

The park has become a popular pilgrimage site for thousands of people of Cheiraoba day.

The park is being managed by a committee specifically constituted for the purpose.

One persistent headache of the management committee is to check that the beautiful and captivating flowers are not plucked by visitors who are coming in hundreds on different occasions.

Saying that there is active participation of the local people in developing and managing the park, Surchandra claimed that Kakching children have learnt not to pluck flowers from the park.

Observing that tourism is an easy way of earning a decent income, the Kakching A/C MLA maintained that the park would be developed further.

Another park for children is also being developed, he added.

Further, a pond as big as one lakh square feet has been developed at Kakching Laipham Loknung with funding from MDS with the aim to preserve and promote indigenous fish varieties of Manipur which are on the verge of extinction.

Fingerlings of different indigenous fish varieties have been already released into the pond, Surchandra said.