Nungba -- destination ecotourism

The Irang river, on the way to Nungba.
photo by Manihar of Noney

Nungba  –  a picturesque ecotourism destination -- lies 125 km west of Imphal along the national highway no. 53 popularly known as New Cachar Road. Located on a mountain top of the North West range and inhabited by the Rongmei Naga tribe, this subdivisional  headquarters in Tamenglong district of Manipur is surrounded by other hill villages like Rengpang, Kambiron, Balongdai, Mongjaron, Toudaijang, Sibilong, Kekru, Muktikhullen and Longpi. The spooky gorges, overhead cliffs, boulder clays and tumultuous streams may cast an engrossing spell of intrique and fear to a new visitor.

The area in fact is a place of pristine jungle and grandeur landscape abound in rich flora  and fauna. Rare and exotic orchids of both epiphytal and terrestrial genera like samjirei (rhynchostylis retusa) kwaklei (blue vanda) khongunmellei (dendrobium chrysotoxum) and kwaklei angangba  (renanthera) are here. Champion and Seth  had classified the forests of Manipur into six parts and Nungba region is included in the subtropical wet hill forests category.

The howling of a yongmu  (hoolock gibbon) behind the bamboos  (this little ape is not found elsewhere in India except the Northeast), the antiphonal calls of uchek langmeidong  (four types of hornbills are reportedly spotted), the chirping of smaller birds,  the murmur of perennial streams are the characteristics of the region.

The hilltop view of Nungba seen from Rengpang.

photo by Manihar of Noney

The bus passengers coming from Silchar and Jiribam, after a long and tedious crossings through the Nungjaibung  and  the Kala Naga ranges, usually take their meals here. In the small market shed  beef, pork, chilli, mushrooms are sold by womenfolks.  They are also adept in the art of handwoven colourful Naga shawls. In the winter, yongchak ( pod of parkia javanica) and citrus fruits are in abundance. Juicy and succulent oranges, for want of proper transportation get wasted  in the interiors. Organic tea is another speciality of the location. Grown wild without  insecticide and fertilizer  the tender leaves are plucked and kept dried for own consumption only. They prefer sipping it during meals without sugar and milk.

Nungba lies at a junction where New Cachar Road meets Old  Cachar Road. While the former is maintained by Border Roads Task Force, under the Ministry of Surface Transport, Government of India, the latter is left unattended in a pathetic and dilapidated condition and literally non-existent at some points. Also called Tongjei maril, the Old Cachar Road may be a trying passage for adventure loving buffs. Every twist and turn, up and down of the route may need  them  the guts of   Indiana  Jones . The road was widened under the superintendence of  Captain Guthrie of Bengal Engineers between 1837 and 1844 at the joint expense of the British and Manipur governments, the former paying the larger share.

In August 1874 a legendary hero of Manipur – Maibia Tamrasing -- ran on this way from Fulertal,  near Silchar, Assam to Imphal via Nungba covering a distance of about 138 miles within two days. A durbar was held on 10^th August between Lord North Brook, the Governor General of India and  Maharaj Chandrakirti, the King of Manipur at Fulertal. Tamrasing was asked to take  some important documents left at Imphal.

A little farther from Nungba , towards the Barak, lies Kambiron village, the birth place of Haipou Jadonang, a freedom fighter, who was put to the gallows on 29^th August 1931 by the British Political Agent Mr. J.C. Higgins under whose rule the entire hill administration of the State was then placed. Rani Gaidinliu was his follower.

Standing like a lone sentinel of the  uncharted Rongmei Naga heartland, surrounded by emerald green forests, windswept by rarefied mountain air, still remote but closer than you think – Nungba – it is a beautiful conglomeration of  tribal homesteads and perhaps a good spot  for village tourism worth trying.

Konjengbam Kameshore
(courtesy: Eastern Panorama. Nov. 2002)