- Manipur authorities have drafted plans to develop war tourism in the state by conserving the consequential Koirengei in Imphal
- As per the claims of the CM of Manipur, N. Biren Singh, the state government is planning to decamp the units of the 57 Mountain Division of the Indian Army
THoD Newsdesk, Manipur: Manipur comes with a history of airfields connected to the Second World War. So now the authorities of the state have drafted plans to develop war tourism in the state by conserving the consequential Koirengei in Imphal. This is an old airfield in the northeast region and the government is working to acquire the airport from the Ministry of Defence, to go ahead with the war tourism stratagem.
As per the claims of the CM of Manipur, N. Biren Singh, the state government is planning to decamp the units of the 57 Mountain Division of the Indian Army, deployed in Koirengei airfield to another site. Following this, there will be a path paved for the war tourism site that Manipur Tourism is planning to develop here. The locale would also include shopping malls and government quarters around it.
As history goes, Manipur had a significant role to play during World War II. The British had erected nine airfields in the state, all of which had important contributions in the war. The Japanese army tried to capture India and battled the Allied Forces in the northeast states of Manipur, and Nagaland. The Allied Forces and the Axis Power fought the wars here between March and July, 1944, during the peak of the war.
But going further, a section of people has expressed their concern over the state government’s efforts to acquire the Koirengei airfield. They fear that this historic site may be viewed as “just another piece of real estate waiting to be developed.”
