Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Large parts of India-Bangladesh border to be floodlit

Agartala, Aug 13 : The India-Bangladesh border is going to be floodlit along a length of 2,840 km to check trans-border movement of militants, illegal immigrants and border crimes, says a home ministry report. The land border is already fenced with barbed wire.

India shares a 4,096-km border with Bangladesh, of which 2,979 km is the land border and 1,116 km over rivers.

‘The BSF has also installed sophisticated gadgets including thermal night vision device (TNVD) and telescopic guns (TG) besides trained dogs to further tighten their vigil along the country’s longest international border,’ said Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman A.K. Singh.
The central home ministry report said that the government has decided to undertake floodlighting along that stretch of the India-Bangladesh border where barbed wire fencing has already been erected.

‘The Rs.13.27 billion floodlighting project would commence soon and be completed by 2011-12,’ the report added.

As a pilot project, 277 km of the India-Bangladesh border with West Bengal was floodlit two years ago.

India created a full-fledged border management department in 2004 under the central home ministry for the proper management of the country’s 15,107-km land border and coastline (including island territories) of 7,517 km.

The Indian government has stepped up vigil along its border with Bangladesh by increasing troop strength and setting up more border out posts (BOPs). Now it has decided to floodlight almost the entire land stretch of the border, except in a few hilly patches where it would not be feasible or effective.

‘As per the recommendations of the Subrahmanyam committee report on the Kargil conflict, New Delhi has been working in strengthening security along the 4,096-km India-Bangladesh border,’ said J.A. Khan, a BSF inspector general.

The committee, which was headed by security expert K. Subrahmanyam, was formed after the Kargil conflict in 1999.

‘The distance between the two BOPs has been reduced from 15 km to about 4-5 km now and the strength of BSF battalions doubled,’ Khan told IANS.

‘Curbing activities and interests hostile to the country, facilitation of legitimate trade and commerce are among the principal objectives of border management,’ the home ministry report added.

The border management department has also undertaken a Rs.3.82-billion scheme to set up seven Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) between India and Bangladesh at Petrapole, Hili and Chandrabangha in West Bengal, Sutarkhandi in Assam, Dawki in Meghalaya, Akhaurah in Tripura and Kawarpuchiah in Mizoram.

‘These ICPs would house all regulatory agencies like immigration, customs, border security together with support facilities like parking, warehousing, banking, hotels, telecommunications, drinking water and sanitation in a single complex equipped with all modern amenities,’ the report added.

According to the report, the government has already approved a proposal for setting up of a Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) for supervision, management and maintenance of ICPs, which are also being set up along India’s border with Pakistan, Myanmar and Nepal.

The bill on LPAI is being finalised and is expected to be introduced in parliament soon.

Tight security arrangements for peaceful I-Day celebrations

Aizawl, Aug 13 : The Mizoram government has stepped up security arrangements throughout the state for Independence Day celebrations in view of the boycott call given by four different Northeastern insurgent outfits.

”Preparations are in full swing for a peaceful Independence Day which will be celebrated in all the district capitals and towns,” an official said here today after a preview meeting at the Aizawl DC office.
Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga will unfurl the Tricolour as part of the the main observation at the Assam Rifles Ground here and receive salute from 27 march past contingents.

Among others, relief packages will be distributed to Mautam famine victims during the observations.

Meanwhile, a spectacular final match of the I-Day football tourney was played at the AR Ground here today between the First Mizoram Armed Police and Kulikawn Football Club.

This year’s I-Day football match was more attractive due to the fact that five foreign footballers had participated in it.

Earlier, four underground outfits - the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (Manipur), Manipur People’s Liberation Front, Tripura People’s Democratic Front and United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) - called for a general strike on August 15 as part of boycott of the Independence Day celebrations in the region.

Shillong-born Karen, lead actress-The Scorpion King 2

I just finished watching the unreleased(?) “The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior”. The lead actress, Karen David, looked cool and great. And I just found out that she is a Shillong-born Indian! She is both an actress and singer-songwriter.

Here is what Wikipedia says:

Karen Shenaz David is an Indian-born English actress and singer-songwriter. David was born in Shillong, Meghalaya, India, and raised in Toronto, Canada before moving to London to study at the Guildford School of Acting. She subsequently appeared in the original cast of Mamma Mia! and worked with Indian composer A.R. Rahman in developing material for Bombay Dreams. David has also appeared in several feature films including Flight of Fury and The Colour of Magic, and currently appears as the female lead in The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior.

Public meeting seeks apology from GOI on Monika issue

IMPHAL, Aug 11: A public meeting Monday sought the government of India to apologise to the people of Manipur within a week`s time on the Monika issue, even as protests against the dropping of Monika from the ongoing Beijing Olympics continued today also at various places.

A massive rally along the Tiddim road (Imphal-Churachandpur section of NH-150) was also taken out by the people of Bishnupur district where L Monika hails from, in protest against the "injustice and discriminatory" act towards the players of Manipur.

Lamlong bazar also observed a shut down and a sit-in protest was staged at the market.

The Manipur Students` Association, Delhi is also organizing a sit-in-protest against such damaging action of the authorities tomorrow at the ITO junction in New Delhi.

A massive public meeting organized today at Indoor Stadium, Khuman Lampak sports complex discussed thoroughly the Monika case and alleged a conspiracy behind it. It was organized by the Co-ordinating Committee against the Conspiracy to exclude Monika from Beijing Olympics by the government of India.

The public meeting while assuming that the ouster of Monika from the Indian Olympic squad was a part of discrimination and exploitation of Manipuri people condemned the act in the strongest terms.

The government of India should offer apologies to the people of Manipur within a week`s time counting from today, i.e. within August 17, otherwise, steps like calling of a 24-hour general strike from 5 am of August 19 to 5 am of August 20 and appraisal to the International Olympic Committee to recognize Manipur separately and allow participation of Manipur players separately in the international and regional sports events etc. would be taken up, the meeting resolved.

The move for appraisal to the International Olympic Committee for a separate status for Manipur was resolved at the meeting considering the long and continuous discrimination against the Manipuri players by the officials of the government at the Centre and sports authorities.

The meeting also resolved that all the governmental and non-governmental sports organization/associations would stay away from the zonal, national and international championship/competitions with immediate effect.

In the meeting, speakers recounted various discriminating acts towards the players of the state in the past.

While giving the keynote address at the meeting, president AMSU, Khamba Laishram said that the instance neglect of Mainpuris and north east people was clearer day by day.

There were plenty of instances in which the sentiments of the players from the state were hurt. But still the players of state had been giving a major contribution to Indian sports in the world arena, he said.

India`s footballers, both women and men, have a room in international championships because of the players from Manipur. In judo, weightlifting and sepak takraw also the country has a place in the international arena as players of Manipur represent the teams, he observed.

Keeping aside the contributions of the Manipuri players, authorities are trying to suppress the players of the state, he said adding that the Monika issue was an example.

He also recounted various instances when players of the state were dropped from international championships, like the non-sending of sepak takraw team to Bangkok Asian Games, and non-selection of boxer Dingku in the first trial selection for Bangkok Asian Games where he later even won the gold medal for India.

Th Manihar, secretary of the Manipur Hockey Association while expressing worry at the suppressive acts of the authorities recounted the revolt of Chinese Taipei.

He said Chinese Taipei after they were unable to represent China in international events have been demanding separate recognition and asked whether India was compelling Manipur to do the same.

A massive rally decrying the discriminatory act of the Central government and sports authorities towards Monika was taken out today along the Tiddim road from Ningthoukhong to Bishnupur bazar.

Around 600 rallyists displayed various slogans decrying the suppressive and discriminative acts of the government of India and its sports authorities during the rally.

They also demanded resignation of the IOA president Suresh Kamadi and other officials involved in the alleged conspiracy on moral grounds.

On the other hand, shopkeepers and women vegetable vendors of Lamlong bazar also staged a sit-in protest against the exclusion of Monika from the Indian Olympic squad.

During the protest organized by the Lamlong Keithel Phambi Apunba Lup, all shops remained closed.

Pulling out Monika Devi who had been selected for the Beijing Olympics at the last minute on a false allegation was a matter of shock, the Manipuri Students` Association Delhi said today while announcing that it would stage a sit-protest in Delhi to show solidarity with state`s fight against the injustice.

The Women`s United Development Organization Manipur, Kakwa Lilando Lampak also extending its support to the demand for expulsion of Suresh Kalmadi and RK Naidu from their posts.

The Salai Apunba Nupi Lamjing Lup also said that the exclusion of Monika from the country`s Olympic team was like giving shame to the people of Manipur.

Meanwhile, the Integrated Congress of Women Entrepreneurs insisted Monika go to another country other than India and represent the country.

Manipur govt moves Centre for cbi inquiry on Monika issue

NEW DELHI, Aug 11: Consequent upon the announcement made by the Manipur chief minister O Ibobi Singh on Sunday in a media conference held in New Delhi that the state government would move the Centre for a CBI probe on the last minute withdrawal of weightlifter L Monika from Beijing Olympic Games, the Manipur chief secretary Rakesh today wrote an official letter to the Union secretary of personnel, Satyananda Mishra to issue necessary orders to the Central Bureau of Investigation to take up the inquiry on the concerned officials of the Sports Authority of India.

The letter stated that as per irregularities and non-receipt of the dope test report within a period of 48-72 hours prior to departure as per established procedure, Monika was compelled to pull out from the Indian contingent at the very last minute, thereby leaving no scope for Sample `B` dope test.

It also underlined that there was a feeling of strong resentment among the people of Manipur on account of the injustice done to Monika and the irreparable damage to her reputation and career as a sportsperson.

Considering the matter of great public importance, the state government decided to request the Central government to have the entire matter regarding the dope test and exclusion pf Monika from the Indian contingent inquired into by the CBI so that the persons responsible for the mismanagement were brought to book, the letter mentioned.

The chief secretary endorsed a copy of the letter to the CBI director Ashwini Kumar.

Also enclosing a copy of the state government`s letter, the Manipur chief minister O Ibobi Singh urged the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for issuing appropriate instructions to the concerned officers to take up the case for investigation at the earliest.

In the letter despatched to the Prime Minister today, the Manipur chief minister stated that the correspondence exchanged by the Indian Weightlifting Association with the Sports Authority of India and the Indian Olympic Association suggested that the dope test reports of Monika were not properly handled. The possibility of a deliberate move on the part of the IOA and the SAI officials to deny the weightlifter`s participation in the Olympics could not be ruled out.

He said that the sports loving persons from the north east in general and Manipur in particular felt that she had been discriminated against. People came out on the streets to register their protest and resentment against the perceived injustice caused to Monika, and this was continuing.

The chief minister emphasized the need for a thorough probe on the entire episode leading to the exclusion of Monika by an expert investigating agency, namely the CBI, to restore public confidence in the system and to punish the persons found guilty.

Nagaland Police Deprived Of Cash Awards?


Kohima | August 11 : Nagaland continues to remain one of the main transit routes for smuggling different types of banned substances as proven by the amount of confiscation made by the State Police every year. But these achievements of the police seem to remain unrewarded.

The Government of India through the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) has set a scheme of rewards for people offering information on drag-tra
fficking and also for impounding them by state law-enforcement agencies. However, Nagaland seems to have not been able to avail funds meant to encourage effective controlling of drug-trafficking. The NCB award scheme is supported by the UNO through its UNDP programme.
The Narcotics Control Bureau is the designated agency for processing and sanctioning rewards for seizing narcotics and other psychotropic substances. The reward committee of the NCB meets every month for considering reward proposals.

As per the scheme, state governments and other enforcement agencies are required to constitute state reward committees which may sanction and give awards up to Rs.10, 000 per officer, per case in accordance with instructions laid down in the reward scheme. State governments can claim reimbursement from the NCB by submitting such bills once in three months. In cases where the reward admissible and proposal is above Rs.10, 000 per person, the reward committees of an enforcement agency can recommend cases to the NCB for consideration and sanction.

Taking into consideration the confiscations made every year by the Nagaland Police and its various agencies including the Police Narcotic Cell and Excise department, they should have been earning in terms of lakhs every year. However, it was learnt that the state police has not received awards from the NCB so far. A senior Police official admitted that the state PHQ has been sending such proposals to the NCB but it has not received any “scheme” from the NCB. During an interaction, another officer revealed that his Agartala counterpart who is also a batch-mate had revealed that a team of Agartala police personnel who detected and seized about 170 Kgs of contraband Ganja had received the award amount from the NCB. Pointing out incidences of huge quantity of contraband Ganja being seized by the state police even to the tune of 14,000 Kgs, he felt that the achievements made by the Nagaland police personnel deserves the awards.

Similarly, another senior official agreed that “if the award is availed, it could have been a good source of encouragement for the state agencies personnel in effective performing of their duties and checking corruption to a certain level while it could also encourage the flow of information as the identity of the informer will remain anonymous.”

Confiscation made by Nagaland Police in the year 2007

Sl.No Type of Drug Quantity Expected Award for Informer and State Agencies
1. Ganja 10,822 Kgs Rs 8,65,760 x 2 = Rs.17,31520/-
2. Heroin – 1.10 Grams
3. Opium 12.7 Grams
4 Brown Sugar 624 ½ Grams
5 Spasmo Proxivum 19,468 Capsules
6 Parvon Spas 1499 Capsules
7 Nitrozepam 2884 Capsules
8 Relipain 17893 Capsules
9 IMFL 17,905 Bottles

Case Registered – 234
Person Arrested – 356
Cases Charge-sheeted - 356

Capture of banned drugs and other banned substances since January to June, 2008

Sl.No Type of Drug Quantity Expected Award for Informer and State Agencies
1. Ganja 2126 Kgs Rs.1,70,080 x 2 = Rs.3,40160 /-
2. Heroin 170 Grams
3. Opium 6.4 Grams
4 Brown Sugar 1.16 Grams
5 Spasmo Proxivum 35, 831 Capsules
6 Nitrozepam 1035 Capsules
7 Diazepam 34 Strips
8 Relipain 3800 Capsules
9 IMFL 33, 624 Bottles

Case Registered – 107
Arrested – 156
On the other hand, the NCB also provides assistance to the state in the nature of grant-in-aid with no assistance required for acquiring equipment for surveillance, laboratories and offices but not for meeting recurring expenditure. The assistance however is meant only to cells and units which are exclusively engaged in drug law enforcement.

However, to avail such assistance, the state has to established basic institutional arrangements prescribed by the NCB for effective enforcement of anti-narcotics laws. The state has to establish a multi-disciplinary level coordination committee under the chair of the chief secretary or a senior secretary for regular interaction with various central and state agencies, including the NCB, for coordination and sharing information and for reviewing drug situation in a state. The state also has to set up an anti-narcotics task force under an IG-level officer with duties and responsibilities duly demarcated and formalized action plan to address narcotics-related issues including, identification of regions which are sensitive to drugs trafficking, requiring focused attention and strategies for action in these regions.

In a dramatic move, the Nagaland Police has reportedly withdrawn all Police personnel from all the Narcotics check gates with effect from May 1 earlier this year.

The move seems to have caught the state Police Narcotic Cell by surprise as its personnel have been pushed back to the police station to function. While confirming the report, SP Narcotic Imcharemla who took over the assignment after the withdrawal of the Narcotic personnel from the check gates, regretted the move. Check gates are one of the most effective places for the Narcotic Cell to function. ‘Without any provision of funds at our disposal for acquiring information or sources, I don’t know how we’ll function now,’ she added.

The Nagaland Police Narcotic Cell, headed by a Superintendent-level officer, currently has only one Narcotic Police Station for the entire state and is functioning with a negligible strength of 30 supporting staff. Moreover, the cell and the only Narcotic police station are presently functioning without any proper demarcation of jurisdiction. If a single Narcotic Police Station is supposed to cover the entire state, there should be supporting staff and check gates in every part of vulnerable and suspected drug trafficking routes and regions, the SP added.

(Morung Express News)

Rebels target Dimapur trader

Kohima, Aug. 12: A non-tribal businessman escaped a bid on his life when armed Naga militants opened fire on MP Road in Dimapur this afternoon.
Police said Swapan Das, proprietor of Das and Company, sustained bullet injuries, one each on his neck and shoulder, after being shot at by two militants who fled after the attack.

Das, who is in his sixties, was rushed to a nearby hospital, where his condition was stated to be serious. Though the reason for the attack is yet to be ascertained, sources attributed the incident to the ongoing fratricidal killings in the state.


(A jawan keeps vigil in Dimapur on Tuesday. Picture by Eastern Projections)

More than a dozen non-Naga businessmen have been killed by NSCN militants for ransom or extortion this year alone. Over a hundred have also been abducted for ransom, forcing affluent businessmen to flee Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland.

On August 8, a businessman was fired at but escaped with two bullet injuries on MP Road.

The Isak-Muivah faction of National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) has pinned the blame on the rival NSCN (Khaplang) faction. Most of the businessmen in Dimapur are Biharis, Bengalis, Marwaris and Tibetans. Hundreds of Tibetans have also fled Dimapur. According to a new survey, business has fallen by 30 per cent in Dimapur because of militancy. According to intelligence sources, this year alone NSCN groups have extorted over Rs 200 crore from Dimapur alone. But the state government and security forces have remained helpless because of the ongoing truce with the NSCN factions.

The militants also do not spare commercial vehicles. Taxes are collected from under the very nose of the police and security agencies from the check gates. Hundreds of Manipur trucks and buses ply through National Highway 39 from Dimapur to Kohima. Security agencies and the administration have failed to flush out militants from the civilian areas.

(The Telegraph)

HP Announces EliteBook

At the SIGGRAPH 2008 annual conference, HP announced the expansion of their DreamColor Display technology lineup by introducing powerful workstations and a notebook PC. HP seems to be serious about graphics-hungry workstations with their new 17-inch Elitebook 8730w, a workstation notebook that will offer HP’s DreamColor Display sporting 16 million colors. The 8730w is powered with Intel’s Quad-core mobile CPU, 8GB RAM and Nvidia’s Quadro FX card with upto 1 GB video memory.


The other EliteBooks 8530w and 8530p fall under the categories of mobile workstation and notebook PC respectively, and target extreme power users from the field of animation, audio-video professionals, designing, photography and other allied fields. Both systems have 15.4-inch display, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and 8GB RAM. The 8530w laptop supports Intel Quad-core mobile processor.
The EliteBook 8730w will be available later this month at an estimated price of $1699 and other 15-inch laptops will be available in September with an estimated price tag of $1499.

Scarlett Johansson ‘in no rush’ to wed Ryan Reynolds

American/Danish actress Scarlett Johansson has revealed that she is in no hurry to tie the knot with her fiance actor Ryan Reynolds.

Johansson had announced her engagement to Reynolds in May, but she insists that she is happy being “young and engaged” for now.

“We’re just enjoying our time. We are just recently - very recently - engaged. So we are just taking it easy,” China Daily reported her as telling US TV talk show host Jay Leno.
“I mean I’m 23. There is no reason to rush into it. Everything feels very natural and relaxed,” she stated.

The ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ actress revealed last week that she was considering paying homage to Reynolds’ home country.

The two have been dating for more than a year, and when asked about wearing a beaver crown when they tie the knot, she said she might do it.

“OK, that’s creepy - an animal on my head. If it’s alive, maybe. Um, I guess so. I don’t know! I’ll take it!” she added.

48-hour Manipur strike begins

Imphal, Aug 12 : The All Tribal Students Union, Manipur (ATSUM) has called a 48-hour Statewide general strike from Monday midnight which is expected to force the transporters to suspend their normal services.

ATSUM’s general strike will be effected from Monday midnight till midnight of Wednesday (August 13) as a part of its ongoing month-long series of agitations to press the State Government to fulfill their demands.
“We will go ahead with our strike as planned earlier”, Joseph Hmar, spokesman of the tribal students body said. Mention may be made here that the students’ body shortened the bandh period following appeal from various sections taking into account hardships that would befall the common people. Earlier, the ATSUM had planned to call a 96 hour bandh from August 10.

The student leader told this reporter that they will not talk with the government. “We are fed up with talks, we’ll not hold any talks with the government until and unless we receive the decision of the government on our demands”, Joseph said.

The Student body also warned to close down all educational institutions in the hills from August 18 to 23. ATSUM’s demands include appointment of the required teachers for hill schools, tribal quota in Manipur University and other educational infrastructures.

Meanwhile, the Manipur Drivers Welfare Association has appealed to the State Government to bring an amicable solution to the general strike called by the ATSUM.

Delhi-Agartala Rajdhani Express demanded


Agartala, Aug 12 : CPI(M) MP and Railway Standing Committee Chairman Basudev Acharya has urged the Railway Ministry to launch Delhi-Agartala Rajdhani express and direct express train service between Kolkata and Agartala.

North-east Frontier Railway (NFR) officials here today said that the demand for AC chair car in all express trains, in the initial phase between Agartala and Silchar had already been forwarded to the ministry while Achariya would meet Railway minister Lalu Prasad on the issue by next couple of days. He will also request the minister for the immediate conversion of metre gauge to broad gauge, NFR sources added.
Acharya has also urged the ministry to name the train between Silchar and Agartala as ‘Vasa Sahid Intercity Express’ and keep strict vigil from very first day to maintain the beauty of the train as well as plying time.

Justifying the name he proposed for the train, Mr Achariya said that 11 innocent people sacrificed their lives on May 19, 1961 for the recognition of Bengali language.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the railway minister besides, high officials of the ministry are expected to be present on the inaugural run of the train services, sometime this month, NFR sources said.

The NFR authority had been preparing to start railway service up to Agartala, on Independence Day and all the arrangement was already completed. Since the prime minister would not be available on August 15, the scheduled run would be delayed, sources added.

The sources further informed that as a part of security arrangement, besides a huge contingent of paramilitary troops and Railway Protection Force (RPF), bullet-proof coaches and protective jackets for crew members had been undertaken for train services in the militancy-hit hill sections of southern Assam that links Tripura and Mizoram.

Mizoram readies itself for rodent attack as Mautam strikes!

The tranquillity of the North Eastern state of Mizoram seems to be at stake once again with predictions about gregarious flowering of the Bamboo, the fastest growing grass, since its last bloom gave birth to the bloody insurgency in the state.

Besides the unprecedented number of deaths, the 1959’s great Mizo famine, dubbed as the “MAUTAM”, is historic for giving birth to the insurgency in the state that lasted for nearly two decades.
The Mizo National Front (MNF), currently in power in the state, came into being as the Mizo National Famine Front, conceived to fight the famine and apathy of the then’s most organised rebel armies, the Front graduated to become a political group when its leader Laldenga dropped the word ‘famine’ from its name. He later signed an accord with Delhi city in 1986, and returned to normal life.
In 1990, Laldenga died and Zoramthanga is presently the chief minister of Mizoram for the second term when he won the last election of the state legislative assembly in December 2003. Now, bamboo scientists fear that 2009-10 may again see a repeat of 1959’s Mautam. However, they are cautious that the phenomenon now cannot lead to dreaded famines, as there has been a tremendous development in the field of science and technology, contrary to consternation in the villages. It occurs due to unseasonal flowering of the bamboo, whose high protein content attracts field rats on a large scale and allows them to multiply by millions. The rats totally devastate the crop, leading to an acute scarcity of food.
More than 20 percent of maize harvest loss is reported from Aizawl district alone. Apart from maize, rats also attacked other crops like pumpkin, cucumber, chilli and watermelon, the Mizoram State Agriculture Department officials confirmed.

The paddy harvest in the state came down to about 85,000 quintals in 2007 as compared to 736,253 quintals in 2005 due to rats devouring the crops, Mizoram Agriculture Minister H. Rammawi said. Bamboo is a part of everyday life in the North East. It is considered so sacred by some that on certain auspicious occasions and days, it is considered sacrilegious to cut the plant.

However, its flowering gives birth to panic and widespread apprehension. Traditionally, the Mizo’s regard bamboo flowering as an ominous sign, and the last devastating famine that the hills suffered substantiate the belief. The earliest record of the phenomenon in Mizoram dates back to 1862. In his book- ‘The Mizos: A study in racial personality’, the author, a leading historian Lalbiakthanga talks about Mautam. The Mizos for ages dreaded the flowering of bamboos which they noted was invariably followed by an unprecedented increase in the rat population, which, ultimately leads to famine.

“The Lushai Hills” (History of the Frontier Bordering on Assam from 1883-1941) by Sir Rober Reid, Governor of Assam, 1937-1942, mentions “the partial failure of crops in 1910-11 as an indirect result of the flowering of the bamboos was followed by serious scarcity all over the district. The effect of this flowering was to cause a tremendous increase in number of the rats who destroyed all crops.” After in-depth study, Dr. R.S Tripathi and Dr. S.Trivedi of the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in Shillong reported that bamboo flowering is a cyclical phenomenon where there are two cycles independent of each other. Locally one is known as ‘Mautam’ and the other ‘Thingtam’. Thingtam is water down version of the large scale famine.

Both are associated with the flowering of two bamboo species viz. Melocanna baccifera and Bambusa tulda. While Mau and Thing are two species, Tam in Mizo terminology means ‘to wither’ or ‘to die’. Both have been found to occur at regular intervals. Mautam occurs roughly every 48 years, while the Thingtam occurs with a gap of 30 years.
TIMELINE -ACCORDING TO MIZO ORAL TRADITION



MAUTAM 1862

THINGTAM 1881

MAUTAM 1911

THINGTAM 1929

MAUTAM 1959

THINGTAM 1977

MAUTAM 2009 (due)


They also concluded from their 1991-92 study that the increase in the rat population due to the bamboo flowering is hypothetical and does not have any scientific basis but to the absence of predators feeding on them. For them, it was the ‘systematic extermination of wildlife that may be responsible for the disturbance of natural checks and balances in nature to a great extent’.
The phenomenon has become a scientific mystery, with no definite explanation. However the past records highlight that rat population does infact increases manifold when the bamboos flower. Similar to 1959-60, when the bamboo flowered in a big way in 1977-78, a total of 26 lakh rats were killed by the volunteers of the Mizoram state Agriculture Department.

Padmashree awardee and renowned Mizo naturalist, C.Rokhuma, has been examining closely the behavioural changes of the rodents during the Mautam and Thingtam famines for the last five decades in his experimental centre in Aizawl. He believes that three million rats must die by 2007, if human beings are to survive in Mizoram.

Paul Khuma, a student informed that, Rokhuma, heading the Mautam committee is fighting an anti-rodent militia and urging people to kill rats as much as possible. Inspired by his campaign, copious rat trapping instruments such as ‘vaithang’, ‘kawlper’,’ Kharkhup’ and ‘thangchep’ have been developed by the villagers.

The Jorhat based Rain Forest Research Institute (RFRI), one of the institutes under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun, has made many recommendations focusing on extraction and utilization of the bamboos before they get to flower. An interesting fact came out from their study that since North East has the greatest concentration of bamboos in the country, if a mere 25% of the resource is properly utilized, it would generate Rs.2500 crore every year.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is working with experts including some from the Beijing based International Bamboo and Rattan Network (INBAR) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) on how to handle this natural growth cycle of the bamboo having extraordinary socio-economic and long-term ecological impact. The government is also working out on a project for exporting Mizoram’s bamboo to other states abroad.

The Central Government this time round is implementing a project called Bamboo flowering, to manage the situation arising out of the gregarious flowering of the bamboo, in association with the North East state Governments.

Meanwhile, Mizos are praying fervently to ward off what they believe is the sure-fire sign of a famine. “We’re offering special prayers in churches almost daily so God does not shower curses on the people of Mizoram by unleashing a famine” Lalmalswama, a Delhi School of Economics student from Mizoram said. Considering the past records of the natural calamity, the Mizo administration too is keeping a watch and getting ready for the expected battle. Mizoram Chief Minister, Zoramthanga, has already announced a rupee for every rat-tail, and by the statistics available, the rat annihilation programme is turning out to be a successful one.

“It is not a myth or any superstitious belief to think that bamboo flowering signals famine. It is stark reality and we have experienced and witnessed an outbreak of famine in the past under similar circumstances,” Zoramthanga said.

For the state that harvests about 40 percent of India’s 81 million tonnes of bamboo, the Chief Minster asserts that they will attempt to bring in a green gold revolution through bamboo.

“We want to reverse the flowering phenomenon into an economic opportunity by harvesting all the bamboo in the state before it flowers completely,” the Chief Minister said.

“We want to set up an incense factory with machines imported from Thailand, besides making paper and other handicrafts items from bamboos. It would serve the twin objective of checking rats from increasing and also help in making the economy grow,” he said.
Mizoram along with the rest of the North East is inaudibly preparing to fight this ecological oddity. However serious research has still not been done.

A major threat is that except in the hill districts, there is no natural bamboo forest in Mizoram. Flowering of bamboo, particularly Muli is a necessary development for its regeneration. Ignorance of the people leads to their failure to collect the bamboo fruits. This makes enough food available to the rodents helping them multiply their population excessively. Linking famine with bamboo flowering has become a wrong proposition in this era of science and technology, scientists claimed.

Seminars and awareness programmes should reach the remotest jungles as fast as possible. The rodent control that had been applied in the late 1990s has to be taken up seriously by the government. Above all, people should be made alert of the possibility and also because of the fact requisite steps can be undertaken early to alleviate the devastating consequences of the event.