Manipur village struggling to keep decades-old salt well alive

The practice of traditional salt-making is reminiscent of the past for villagers of Ningel. The village with around 50-60 households have managed to preserve the practice of salt-making. Despite the onslaughts of packed iodized salt available in the market, the villagers have been using traditional salt produced from the saline well known as “Thumkhong Hutpa”. Ningel Village has three salt-wells of which two are cemented and the remaining oldest one is a wooden structure known as Ching-Yenjin. The salt-wells are believed to be around 45 feet in depth with a cylindrical diameter of around 6 feet. These handful of salt makers have been urging the government of Manipur to give them better technology to preserve this dying profession.