IMPHAL, Sept 26 - A collaborative move is on in Manipur to roll out bamboo-made shelters in place of the concrete bus stands. The initiative is being touted as the first of its kind in the North East.
�We have developed the first model of the bus shelter made of bamboo with modern technology for its introduction in the region,� said the executive director of the South Asia Bamboo Foundation (SABF), Kamesh Salam.
Bamboo construction workers, artisans and architects from Manipur have developed the first bus shelter by using treated �maribob� (Dendrocalamus latiflorus), a bamboo species, and other modern inputs during the five-day bamboo construction workshop at a crafts complex on the outskirts of Imphal city.
The workshop, which concluded at Patsoi Part I in Imphal West district on September 22, was held under the aegis of the SABF, Bamboo Forum of India, Building Material Technology Promotion Council and Manipur State Bamboo Mission of the Forest Department as part of celebration of the 10th edition of the World Bamboo Day on September 18.
�It took less than four days to develop the durable and cost-effective bus shelter made of bamboo,� said a participant in the workshop.
Design expert Sukumar Haobam, CS Susanth of the National Institute of Design, Bangalore, PB Goswami of Jorhat, Assam, environmentalist Salam Rajesh and Kamesh Salam of the SABF also made separate presentations on bamboo designs, laminates, furniture, plantation, value chain, environment and bamboo constructions. The bus shelter model has been kept at the crafts centre for approval of the Government and the public.
�We have even made a proposal to construct such kinds of bus shelters under the MP�s Local Area Development Fund,� said Salam, former president of the World Bamboo Organisation. �We are even thinking of developing such bus shelters in front of the Manipur University gate.�
Once the model is approved of and implemented in Imphal and other towns of Manipur, it will help in creating a clean and green Manipur by using bamboo as building materials, a bamboo promoter here said.
In 2012, the SABF and the Manipur Cycle Club had developed a bamboo bicycle during a similar bamboo cycle building workshop here. Bamboo (solid bamboo or Bambusa affinis) formed the main frame of the cycle instead of aluminium and steel.
