Construction of Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre – Some facts unknown to many
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Jarnail Singh
During 1992 and 1993, Manipur was affected by serious ethnic clashes between Nagas and Kukis. There were widespread complaints about handling of the situation by the state government. President’s Rule was imposed on 31st December 1993 and elected government headed by R K Dorendro Singh was dismissed. Till 1993, this was perhaps the only occasion in Manipur when a Congress led government in New Delhi ousted a Congress led state government because of inept handling of situation. Lt Gen V K Nayar (Retd) was the Governor of Manipur.
The Present’s Rule in Manipur remained from 31 st December 1993 to 13th December 1994. During the President’s rule, PP Srivastava, a retired IAS officer, and HV Goswami, the serving chief secretary functioned as advisers to Governor. PP Srivastava was in charge of departments relating to infrastructure development. He was very active in implementation of projects and removal of encroachments from public places. I was in charge of Power and PWD and a few other departments during the President’s Rule.
Many steps were taken, during President’s rule to remove encroachments from Palace Complex, Nambul River embankments and around Naga Nala. A number of encroachments had taken place on the Palace Complex land between Polo ground and Imphal River. With passage of time, these encroachments were expanding towards Polo ground. In one meeting, taken by Governor, it was decided to remove encroachments from the Palace Complex area and build a wall so that people could not re-encroach on the cleared land. It was also decided in that meeting to build an open-air theatre on that land after removing encroachments.
Removing encroachments from the Palace Complex area was a sensitive matter as a number of persons from outside Imphal had built residential structures. After my colleague who was in charge of Municipal Administration, Housing and Urban Development (MAHUD) Department developed cold feet, I supervised the eviction of unauthorized persons and quickly started construction of a wall between the cleared land and some remaining structures. Within a few days, an unusually tall wall was built to permanently discourage west side residents from expanding encroachments towards Polo ground as well as to keep a strong separation between the proposed open-air theatre and multi storied residences. When we see this unusually tall wall today, we are surprised but don’t understand its context as was envisaged in 1994.
After consulting the Art and Culture Department, Adviser to Governor PP Srivastava took lead to build an open-air theatre in the Palace Complex similar to the 3,500-seat capacity open air-theatre as existing at Jaipur. Also to honour Rajarshi Bhagyachandra, an 18th-century Manipur king, who had patronized art and culture as well as introduced the classical Manipuri Ras Leela dance, it was decided to name this open-air theatre as Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre (BOAT). Mangi Singh Senior Architect of PWD went to Jaipur to prepare a video of the Jaipur open air theatre, bring the design parameters and then design Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre. The BOAT was designed similar to Jaipur open air theatre, quickly sanctioned, construction started and work progressed at fast pace.
It was also decided at that time to accommodate important offices of Art and Culture Department in the front parameter within the BOAT complex. Accordingly, a number of rooms for offices and other staff were also included in the design. I regularly visited the BOAT construction site along with PWD engineers. Even though the capacity of the BOAT was officially 3,500 persons, yet it could accommodate more than 4,000 persons. With completion of BOAT, it was thought that the Palace Complex area, which had other theatres and halls built by the Manipur Film Development Corporation and Manipur Development Society, would become a centre for cultural activities. Laishram Raghumani Singh, the then Engineer-in-Chief PWD and Secretary (Technical) and other engineers of PWD worked overtime to complete the BOAT in time. Full credit for removal of encroachments during 1994 in Imphal and construction of BOAT goes to PP Srivastava, the then Adviser to Governor, and team of PWD engineers led by Laishram Raghumani Singh.
Later on, in May 1999, when the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Manipur, PM’s public meeting was held in the BOAT and I was present in that meeting as I was then Joint secretary to PM. During the meeting many persons had commented that BOAT was perhaps the biggest open-air theatre in the north east and had been well designed.
The writer is former Chief Secretary of Manipur and also served as Administrator of Manipur University
During 1992 and 1993, Manipur was affected by serious ethnic clashes between Nagas and Kukis. There were widespread complaints about handling of the situation by the state government. President’s Rule was imposed on 31st December 1993 and elected government headed by R K Dorendro Singh was dismissed. Till 1993, this was perhaps the only occasion in Manipur when a Congress led government in New Delhi ousted a Congress led state government because of inept handling of situation. Lt Gen V K Nayar (Retd) was the Governor of Manipur.
The Present’s Rule in Manipur remained from 31 st December 1993 to 13th December 1994. During the President’s rule, PP Srivastava, a retired IAS officer, and HV Goswami, the serving chief secretary functioned as advisers to Governor. PP Srivastava was in charge of departments relating to infrastructure development. He was very active in implementation of projects and removal of encroachments from public places. I was in charge of Power and PWD and a few other departments during the President’s Rule.
Many steps were taken, during President’s rule to remove encroachments from Palace Complex, Nambul River embankments and around Naga Nala. A number of encroachments had taken place on the Palace Complex land between Polo ground and Imphal River. With passage of time, these encroachments were expanding towards Polo ground. In one meeting, taken by Governor, it was decided to remove encroachments from the Palace Complex area and build a wall so that people could not re-encroach on the cleared land. It was also decided in that meeting to build an open-air theatre on that land after removing encroachments.
Removing encroachments from the Palace Complex area was a sensitive matter as a number of persons from outside Imphal had built residential structures. After my colleague who was in charge of Municipal Administration, Housing and Urban Development (MAHUD) Department developed cold feet, I supervised the eviction of unauthorized persons and quickly started construction of a wall between the cleared land and some remaining structures. Within a few days, an unusually tall wall was built to permanently discourage west side residents from expanding encroachments towards Polo ground as well as to keep a strong separation between the proposed open-air theatre and multi storied residences. When we see this unusually tall wall today, we are surprised but don’t understand its context as was envisaged in 1994.
After consulting the Art and Culture Department, Adviser to Governor PP Srivastava took lead to build an open-air theatre in the Palace Complex similar to the 3,500-seat capacity open air-theatre as existing at Jaipur. Also to honour Rajarshi Bhagyachandra, an 18th-century Manipur king, who had patronized art and culture as well as introduced the classical Manipuri Ras Leela dance, it was decided to name this open-air theatre as Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre (BOAT). Mangi Singh Senior Architect of PWD went to Jaipur to prepare a video of the Jaipur open air theatre, bring the design parameters and then design Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre. The BOAT was designed similar to Jaipur open air theatre, quickly sanctioned, construction started and work progressed at fast pace.
It was also decided at that time to accommodate important offices of Art and Culture Department in the front parameter within the BOAT complex. Accordingly, a number of rooms for offices and other staff were also included in the design. I regularly visited the BOAT construction site along with PWD engineers. Even though the capacity of the BOAT was officially 3,500 persons, yet it could accommodate more than 4,000 persons. With completion of BOAT, it was thought that the Palace Complex area, which had other theatres and halls built by the Manipur Film Development Corporation and Manipur Development Society, would become a centre for cultural activities. Laishram Raghumani Singh, the then Engineer-in-Chief PWD and Secretary (Technical) and other engineers of PWD worked overtime to complete the BOAT in time. Full credit for removal of encroachments during 1994 in Imphal and construction of BOAT goes to PP Srivastava, the then Adviser to Governor, and team of PWD engineers led by Laishram Raghumani Singh.
Later on, in May 1999, when the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Manipur, PM’s public meeting was held in the BOAT and I was present in that meeting as I was then Joint secretary to PM. During the meeting many persons had commented that BOAT was perhaps the biggest open-air theatre in the north east and had been well designed.
The writer is former Chief Secretary of Manipur and also served as Administrator of Manipur University