Sano Meru
September 2
KOHIMA (MExN): With the adoption of the Nagaland Bamboo Policy on March 15, 2004, intense implementation programmes on Bamboo awareness is being carried out by the Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency.
Till date, the agency has successfully conducted various workshops and seminars concentrating on the grass roots level to help participants capitalize on the immense economic potential available through Bamboo resources which is found in abundance in Nagaland.
Talking to The Morung Express in his office, Chinithung, an Architect and a member of Nagaland Bamboo Mission Implementation team, said that the Defunct Sugar Mill, which had been closed down, has since been handed over to them and informed that they were planning to turn the place into a Common Facility Center (CFC) where poor people can learn to utilize the Machinery and help each other. They expect that through this endeavor they will be able to find good markets for networking bamboo products.
He also said that they hoped to create a resource center for workshops and trainings and also for building up a Data base for the said purpose. Chinithung informed that they were in the process of setting up a Bamboo Charcoal Kiln and that next month a workshop on Bamboo Dye would be conducted at Dimapur.
On being asked about how their work was being implemented, Chinithung said that they were concentrating on capacity building by exposing themselves to various units as much as possible through participation in various seminars and workshops and also through interactions with craftsmen by exchanging ideas and understanding their problems.
The National Mission on Bamboo Application (NMBA), which had partly sponsored the architectural roof structure for training purposes during September last year at the Botanical Garden, Kohima, is still willing to sponsor more experimental Bamboo buildings in the State.
He further informed that the agency was taking the awareness campaign in clusters and dwelt on the positive responses so far generated from the Bamboo project. Giving information about the awareness programme held at Jalukie and Ruzhephema (the first cluster), he termed as encouraging the response of people. Those who took part in the programme were in particular amazed when they were shown presentations on how raw materials from bamboo were being utilized beyond their traditional use in China. It was also informed that the agency was helping in marketing their Bamboo shoots by supplying it to the manufacturing units in Dimapur. The second cluster of the campaign is to be held at Niuland, and accordingly they are planning to cover all areas in clusters, said an official.
Northeast India is placed at the number two slot in terms of the availability of Bamboo species in the world. It is said that species of Bamboo are yet to be discovered in the Northeast. Therefore no official reports can be made as of now. Till date, more than 45 species have been discovered in the Northeast and in Nagaland alone 22 Species have been identified.
