Imphal, Manipur: Every morning before sunrise, Chongtham Mani (72) picks up her goods, traditional foods like kabok, heingan and lalu, from local producers near her home on Changangei Airport Road. At 5 or 6 a.m. she has taken her place on the street corner of the Khwairamban Bazaar in the heart of Imphal, the capital of Manipur. There is no shade, no shelter, just a small umbrella between her and the open sky.
She will sit there during the morning heat and into the afternoon, when temperatures in Manipur’s capital regularly climb above 35°C.
She’s been doing this for 21 years. But these days it’s getting more and more difficult.
“After being exposed to extreme heat throughout the day, I suffer from exhaustion, fatigue and sleepless nights. To cope, I relied on ORS and other electrolyte solutions in the evenings. My children had to gently massage me to relieve the strain,” she told 101Reporters. “But the next morning I have to repeat the same thing. If I don’t get there early enough, I might lose the place to another provider.”
Vendors like Chongtham Mani are already surviving on the margins.
She is one of hundreds of temporary street vendors operating around Khwairamband Ima Keithel, widely recognized as the oldest and largest women’s market in the world, and the surrounding streets.
Chongtham Mani (center) and others sell their products (Photo – Ngangom Suraj, 101Reporters)
On a normal day, she earns 600 to 800 rupees. On a good day, she can earn Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000. But in conflict-torn Manipur, even normal days are now harder to achieve.
The heat has always been part of the job. What has changed is how much worse it has become and how little room these women have to digest it amidst the violence.
Numbers behind the heat
Data from the Manipur government’s Directorate of Environment and Climate Change showed that the state recorded some of the highest temperatures in over 13 years in recent years.
In September 2024, the temperature in Noney district reached over 42°C – an anomaly for that month. Furthermore, even the average annual maximum temperatures have been steadily increasing, from 34.7°C in 2013 to 35.7°C in 2024.
The Manipur State Action Plan on Climate Change predicts a further increase of over 1.7°C by mid-2030. Over the last 100 years, the state’s minimum and maximum temperatures have increased by at least 1.7°C and 1.5°C, respectively.
In addition to the inclement weather, this surge has also led to a shorter shelf life of hawker products such as vegetables, fish and perishables.
“The vegetables I get from wholesalers dry up or rot much faster,” said Khambi, 58, of Thoubal Babu Bazar. “Their market value is declining rapidly.”
Khambi has been selling vegetables at the Khwairamban Bazaar for 40 years.
Another vendor, Sanatombi, 61, from Nambol, said the rotting and drying of vegetables in hot weather often resulted in her selling her goods at a loss of more than 50 percent.
And for fish sellers the crisis is even worse. Debla Okram, 40, from Leimapokpam, described the additional costs that are now eating into already slim margins: “The rise in temperature has forced us to spend more on buying ice to preserve the fish.” When the ice runs out, there is no recovery. “Sometimes after such losses, we had no choice but to give the fish to neighbors for free because it had lost all market value.”
Prabitrarani, 54, from Yumnam Leikai, who also sells fish, said: “There are many cases where I have no choice but to sell at a loss of over 50 percent, and sometimes I even suffer a complete loss.”
The cost of staying hydrated
Landhoni, 61, from Patsoi village in Imphal West, sells vegetables from her small vegetable garden. On a good day, she earns 300 to 400 rupees. Of this, 60 rupees will be used for daily travel. On hotter days, she spends another 20 to 30 rupees on packaged drinking water.
“For people like me who earn just Rs 300 or Rs 400 a day, it is very difficult to spend another Rs 20 or 30 on drinking water and travel expenses,” she says.
Even using a toilet involves costs. Landhoni uses the washrooms at Ima Keithel or a nearby public toilet and pays 5 rupees for the urinal and 10 rupees for toilet use. Every time she leaves, she asks neighboring vendors to take care of their goods.
“If the government installs free drinking water stations or turns on water taps at regular intervals, it will help not only street vendors but all field workers to cope with the heat,” she said.
Currently, there are no such watering holes or shaded shelters along the streets where the women sit.
Almost all the vendors this correspondent spoke to reported headaches, nausea, dizziness, weakness, painful cramps in the legs or stomach, heat rashes and fainting spells.
Living in a conflict
In this already difficult situation, Manipur’s ongoing conflictwhich erupted on May 3, 2023, came like a second blow. Sudden curfews, internet shutdowns, general strikes and protests have become recurring features of life in the valley districts. They are imposed without adequate warning and can last for days. If this is the case, sellers who have already purchased their inventory will not be able to sell it. And the stock doesn’t wait in the heat.
Explaining what this means, Sanatombi said: “There have been cases where all the vegetables I had bought for sale were completely lost after sudden curfews were imposed for several consecutive days. The high temperatures only aggravated the situation.”
Debla Okram described how the two crises interact specifically for fish sellers: “There have been cases where we suffered heavy losses due to unavailability of ice due to sudden market closures.”
Centuries of history
The streets around Ima Keithel have long been a site of women’s trade, work and political resistance.
According to Asem Nirmala (58), secretary of Lukmai Selup, one of Ima Keithel’s women’s associations, the market was founded in the 16th century, during the reign of King Khagemba. Today it houses more than 4,000 salespeople in three main buildings.
The market also played a central role in the two Nupi Lan or Women’s Wars of 1904 and 1939. In 1904, Manipuri women protested against the colonial government’s decision to reintroduce forced labor for local men. In 1939, they mobilized against large-scale rice exports, which had led to acute shortages in the state.
“These movements are enduring symbols of the courage, unity and political agency of Manipuri women,” said Asem Nirmala.
Even today, Ima Keithel remains the economic and social heart of Imphal. Women sell vegetables, fruits, dried fish, hand-woven products, spices and household goods there. Asem Nirmala described it as “the largest information center” where people from across the region meet every day.
In the Ima market (Photo – Ngangom Suraj, 101Reporters)
But the conflict has changed the character of the market.
“Thousands of people have been displaced and many have lost their livelihoods,” she said. “Frequent strikes, lockdowns and ongoing instability have disrupted economic activity and severely affected both suppliers and customers.”
But even within Ima Keithel, access to basic infrastructure remains extremely unequal.
Women who maintain permanent stalls in the three market buildings, provided by the Imphal Municipal Corporation for a monthly fee of Rs 120, at least have access to fans, ventilation, lighting and washrooms. Drinking water was only available there in 2025 with funds from MP Dr. Bimol Akoijam installed.
The women who sell goods on the surrounding streets enjoy none of these protections. They continue to work in direct sunlight, without shaded shelter or reliable access to water.
Health systems are struggling to keep up
Dr. Nevida Yengkhom, state nodal officer of the National Program on Climate Change and Human Health, said Manipur is not among the 23 states officially considered at risk Heat wavesTo date, no deaths from heat stroke have been officially recorded.
But temperatures are steadily rising and the health impacts are becoming more visible, she added.
Cooling stations have been set up at health centers and 32 ambulances equipped with cooling facilities have been deployed across the state. Awareness programs for traffic police officers and municipal employees on heat precautions will be conducted periodically while notices will be disseminated through media channels.
In 2024, the health department also launched awareness programs specifically for street vendors. However, the initiative cannot be continued due to the “prevailing law-and-order situation and other associated challenges,” said Dr. Nevida.
Ngangom Suraj is a freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.
101Reporters is a pan-India network of grassroots reporters that unearths unheard stories from the hinterland.