JOIN USThe 2013-14 railway budget, apart from tackling the usual components, has a passing mention about increasing rail freight to the North East. What does it mean and how does it help are questions pertinent to a region where Indian Railways have always found it difficult to make inroads due to the hilly topography.
Of the seven states in the North East, only Assam is connected by rail in connectivity’s true sense. There is a railway station in Dimapur in Nagaland and another in Jiribam in Manipur, but both are like an afterthought — the practical utility of these two stations is considered nil. The road to Jiribam railway station, 250 km from the state capital Imphal, is slushy and dangerous.
Nobody takes a day-long ride to Jiribam railway station passing through mountainous, insurgency-infested terrain to finally head towards Delhi or Kolkata. Everybody takes a flight, including those who cannot ‘afford’ it. It is usual to see labourers and barbers flying in and out of Imphal to the nearest airport in Guwahati. Chances of being intercepted by ransom-seeking insurgents are high while going by road.
No rail line
Apart from the insignificant rail reach in Manipur and Nagaland, there is no rail line in Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura. So increasing rail freight to the North East means sending more goods to only Assam in the same way as has been done for several years. In the 2011-12 railway budget, Mamata Banerjee had announced a diesel locomotive centre in Manipur, a state yet to see trains then.
In another announcement that negated basic laws of civil engineering, Banerjee had said all state capitals in the North East will be connected by rail within seven years. A rail line to the highly mountainous Kohima or Itanagar will stand out as an engineering feat comparable to the making of the Saturn-V rocket that put some men on the moon.
The matter is not about bringing rail travel to the doorsteps of people in the North East; it is about pretending to make something happen by doing nothing at all, from Banerjee's tall claims to the incumbent railway minister's dud claims. How can increasing rail freight to Assam benefit the rest six states?
Insurgency in the North East can be wiped clean substantially if the factors that heighten the psychology of isolation are surgically removed, one at a time. Robust rail connectivity is the first step. It will improve the situation overnight as mass easy movement of people will result in more trade opportunities. The ‘remote’ tag will no longer apply to the region. Only rail connectivity can truly open up the North East. Even with daily flights connecting almost all major cities with the capital towns of North Eastern states, people are still reluctant to go there without proper planning and research because air travel, despite the advent of low-cost airlines, is not for the masses.
Manipur often comes close to starvation whenever some groups call a month-long bandh. Air cargo and intermittent supplies by road are inadequate to keep the economy of a border state in good health, which also happens to be strategically vital when it comes to forging ties with East Asian countries. The weather is not an impediment to rail connectivity, except maybe in Arunachal Pradesh.
Unlike Leh and other parts of J&K, none of the North Eastern states is cut off in winter. It is a good time for the Central government to put serious thought into laying tracks wherever it is possible in the region. Work on the broad gauge line in Manipur has already started, with the railhead located 10 km from Imphal. But the project is chugging like molasses trying to run uphill.
In the end, rail connectivity will come in handy in keeping up with developments on the Chinese side of the Arunachal border as well. The logistics of maintaining a fully prepared armed forces in tough terrain can be handled easily.
If the government does nothing despite so much evidence pointing towards the need for extending railway network from Assam to the rest of the North East, then it would be an enjoyable pastime for people of the region to amuse themselves with watching how ministers in other states cry foul over excluding that extra train or some luxury coaches in the budget.