Prolonged disruption of road and rail transport across a major part of Northeast India due to floods and landslips has renewed the demand for fast-tracking projects for connectivity with the rest of the country through Bangladesh.
Details –
- The Barak Valley in southern Assam and the southern half of Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura are dependent on the arterial Lumding-Badarpur railway line for transporting essentials from other parts of the country.
- The National Highway through Meghalaya shares some of the passenger and cargo load, while another through Dima Hasao in Assam has not quite been serviceable.
- The 185-km railway line connecting Lumding in Hojai district of central Assam and Badarpur in Karimganj district of southern Assam, much of it through the hill district of Dima Hasao, has been prone to landslips since the metre gauge track of 1899 vintage was realigned and converted to broad gauge in 2015.
- Badarpur is the junction from where the tracks branch out to Silchar (30 km away), Jiribam in Manipur, Bairabi in Mizoram and Agartala in Tripura. The two highways have a similar problem, particularly during the monsoon months of June to September.
- The Maitri Bridge across the Feni river connects Sabroom in Tripura and Ramgarh in Bangladesh, while efforts are on to take the railway line beyond Sabroom. Another railway line connecting Agartala and Akhaura in Bangladesh is in the works.
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