IMPHAL, October 26: Khoichop (Angling) Mela on eve of Ningol Chakouba will be held at Kakching Lake tomorrow from 8am till 2pm. Over 1000 men and women have registered to join the fishing competition.
The inaugural event of the mela will be presided by Kakching MLA Y. Surchandra.
According to a statement issued by the organising committee, the angling fee is set at Rs 300 per head and the first price for best fishing will be given cash award of Rs 3000 plus all the fish caught by the winner.
Angling Mela in connection with Ningol Chakouba the first of such event in the history of Manipur and it will be observe every year on the eve of Ningol Chakouba, it said.
It further revealed that, the Angling Mela has been planned for the last two years by developing fish farms at Kakching Lake. Over 100,000 indigenous fish “Pengba” have been bred along with other varieties of fishes..
Kakching Lake is located at the foot hill of Mamang Ching and Kakching Garden at Uyok Ching. The mela had been initiated by MLA, Y. Surchandra, who has served as atate planning commission director for 10 years and as district collector Imphal West.
Further according to the release, Kakching has nearly 20 thousand population and its people are known as Lois, meaning outcaste, who suffer caste segregation for centuries yet the state government has denied constitutional provision of Scheduled Caste/Tribe until a verdict of the Supreme Court of India in 1992.
Time and again the people of Kakching have faced caste discrimination, it stated.
The latest challenge face by the people of Kakching is the attempt of the Manipur government to revert Lois into Chakpa in SC/ST Presidential Order. This will not only damage the SC status benefited by the people of Kakching but the history of Manipur will also be twisted, it maintained.
