4.3 earthquake halts Manipur Assembly briefly on Budget Session’s final day

Imphal, March 18: In a rare occurrence, the ongoing Session of the Manipur Legislative Assembly was adjourned for five minutes due to an earthquake that was felt inside the Assembly Hall on its last day.

The earthquake struck around 12.08 pm on Tuesday when Congress Legislature Party leader K Meghachandra was raising a Cut Motion on issues of the Public Health Engineering Department, including the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme.

Meghachandra, who represents the Wangkhem Assembly constituency in Thoubal district, had to stop his speech in the middle.

Assembly Speaker Thokchom Satyabrata Singh announced adjournment of the House for five minutes. Later, the Session resumed with the normal proceedings.

The Budget Session of the Manipur Assembly started from March 9 with the participation of six out of nine Kuki-Zo legislators, who attended it virtually, for the first time since the ethnic crisis of May 2023.

The epicentre of the earthquake, which was measured 4.3 on the Richter scale, was located in Kamjong district.

Confirming it through a post on social media, the National Centre for Seismology wrote, “Earthquake of Magnitude 4.3, on 17/3/2026 12:08:51 IST, Lat: 24.86 N, Long: 94.18 E, Depth: 45 km, Location: Kamjong, Manipur.”

However, there was no report of any damage to the Assembly Hall and its surrounding buildings.

Meanwhile, the Assembly Speaker adjourned the current Session sine die on Tuesday.

The Session began with the tabling of the State’s proposed Budget estimates of Rs 30,356 crore for 2026-27 by Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh on the very first day. As many as three government Bills were passed during the Session.

Deputy Chief Minister Nemcha Kipgen and MLAs LM Khaute, Letzamang Haokip, Ngursanglur Sanate, Kimneo Haokip Hansing and Haokholet Kipgen attended the House proceedings virtually.