Imphal, April 01: With no visible sign of Government assistance reaching interior pockets of Churachandpur district to contain possible outbreak of rodent menace the locals have been relying on slash and burn method which in turn is posing great threat to ecological imbalance in the region.

As bamboo flowering is fast reaching its crescendo and poor surface communication coupled with nonexistent roadways severely crippling transportation of mature bamboos villagers are left with no option other than hope for rodent-free livelihood in the coming days/months by depending on the slash and burn method.

The most affected areas where bamboo flowering is found to be in full bloom covers the district's sub-division of Singngat, Thanlon and Henglep.

Applying their own ingenious method to prevent large scale destruction of food-crops which is imminent in case rodent population increases due to the periodical bamboo flowering event the villagers have begun to cut and burn massive bamboo groves along NH-150 and Guite Road stretch.

When The Sangai Express contacted Assistant Professor P Kumar of mU's life sciences department, he predicted bamboo scarcity for five or more years in the State.

As preventive measures against rat population explosion resorting to slash and burn method would not only cause enormous environmental degradation but the bamboo groves itself stand to be lost for more than five years as regeneration of bamboo plants is a time consuming process, reminded the professor.

He further explained that age old practice of slash and burn method for clearing cultivable land contribute to the undesirable global warming, causing huge imbalances to the ecological condition that subsequently results in depletion of water sources.

prof Kumar also informed of bamboo flowering event beginning to occur at Moreh area of Chandel district.

He mooted that State authorities having already experienced difficulties faced by affected village priority should have been given in facilitating transportation of bamboos before nuisances accompanying bamboo flowering events go out of control.

A villager working in his field along the Guite Road expressed to the media that despite the lurking danger of food scarcity the villagers are facing severe handicap in checking growth of rodent population due to unavailability of insecticide.

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