Charm of Imphal Evening slowly fizzles out
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, January 01 2018: Imphal Evening, which was launched by Chief Minister N Biren Singh on October 2 last year with the lofty aim of giving a taste of night life to the people of Manipur, is now just a hollow event which exists only in namesake.

Imphal Evening is organised every weekend (from 7 pm to 10 pm in the summer and from 6 pm to 9 pm in the winter) along Kanglapat road stretch in front of Raj Bhavan to Khoyathong PWD office.

The roads are even blocked by security personnel for the sole purpose of organising the event.

But in just a span of around three months, the event which was inaugurated with much fanfare, is slowly being abandoned by the people and even the stall owners seemed to have lost interest in the event as only about 7 stalls can be seen during the evening.

Charm of Imphal Evening slowly fizzles out

When Imphal Evening began, around 50 stalls formed the crux of the event.

These stalls were provided their slots/space in the event after calling in applications from interested parties and after paying deposits for setting up the stalls.

Even the people handling vehicle parking during the events, were charged about Rs 600 for every 100 metres of parking space by the authority.

Tonight, only 12 stalls could be seen at the venue, around 4 stalls along the road stretch from Raj Bhavan gate to Kangla gate and around 8 stalls in the stretch from Kangla gate to PWD gate.

Although it is not clear whether the low visitors turnout is due to the cold or the gradual loss of interest in the event, only about 100 visitors could be seen coming to the event.

Even with the low number of visitors and the even lower number of stalls, the road remained blocked for the event.

According to information received by The Sangai Express, Imphal West Additional SP (Law and Order) is the security on-charge for the event and various teams led by SDPO Imphal, SDPO Singjamei, SDPO Lamphel, OCs etc are deployed near the venue for security measures.

Numerous parking spaces are also arranged by the State Government for the event, but these days even the people in charge of handling the parking spaces cannot be seen anymore.

Speaking to this newspaper, some of the visitors said that initially many used to come for the thrill of experiencing the event, but once people got to experience the actual event first hand, they do not want to visit again.

They claimed that one of the main reasons for the rapid decline in people's interest in Imphal Evening is due to the fact that most of the stalls are food stalls and even then, the items are outrageously priced.

Lauding the motive behind the event, they said that if the Government does not review the event at the earliest, it will gradually fade away on its own.

People are not able to see anything unique in Imphal Evening.

If one desires to eat expensive foods, there are lots of fancy restaurants in every corner of the State nowadays.

One does not need to make tedious arrangements or waste time just to come for the event, they claimed.

One of the individuals present at the event explained that the prices are normally high due to the works as well as the costs required in bringing the products to Imphal Evening, including the deposit fees, daily transportation charges (of materials and items etc).

As such people are hesitant to visit the stalls, the individual said.

He further said that judging by the development in only around three months, Imphal Evening which was introduced by the Government with high ambitions, has completely lost its charm.

He suggested that Imphal Evening could improve and entice visitors if the State Government takes up some steps to allow the stalls around Imphal to open during the night as well.