“Train to Manipur will open up new vistas in terms of trade and commerce for Barak Valley,” Rajdeep Roy

A train has recently traveled to Vaingaichunpao Railway Station in Manipur’s Tamenglong district. The Indian Railways is all set to inaugurate the train track to Imphal which will bring most of Manipur to the Railway map of India. Trains traveled to Vangaichungpao before the pandemic too and it is the journey beyond which has filled the air with perfumes of promise.

“The train was sent to Vangaichungpao as the NF Railways is making a documentary which will be played at the inauguration event,” informed the CPRO of NF Railways. The plan is to extend the existing track till Vangaichungpao to Imphal and eventually Moreh – the Myanmar border.

Trains to Manipur and eventually Myanmar borders will have to travel through Barak Valley. “Railways are one of the cheapest means of transportation, it will open up new vistas in terms of trade and commerce. Our valley now becomes the nerve centre of Railway Communication in Southern part of North East India,” says Silchar MP, Dr. Rajdeep Roy.

In November 2014, the Prime Minister of India announced the “Act East Policy”. The Objective of ”Act East Policy”, is to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationships with countries in the Asia-Pacific region through continuous engagement at bilateral, regional, and multilateral levels thereby providing enhanced connectivity to the States of the North Eastern Region. He had said, North East is the heart of ‘Act East Policy’. The train communication to Manipur and eventually to the Myanmar border’s Moreh will be a major boost for the ‘Act East Policy’. An article published in the weekly newspaper ‘The Economist’ states that Moreh can be a trade hub with a rich town like Tamu on the other side. Once Myanmar and India get connected with Railways, trains can travel to Thailand and then all the way to China which will be a huge economic boost for the region. Such is the significance of the Railway track to Moreh.

“I feel that in the next few decades, Barak Valley will become the hub of railways in the southern part of Northeast India. Out of the major stations in three districts, a few of them will have to undergo an immense change in their infrastructure. All trains arriving in Tripura, Mizoram, and Manipur in the future will have to pass through Barak Valley. Whatever be the number of trains which will connect these three states to the rest of the country, Barak Valley is destined to be a nodal point for all of them,” asserts Rajdeep Roy.

He adds, “If Tamenglong line is opened up, it will be in close proximity with Burma border. So obviously it is a boon for trade and commerce and the people of Barak Valley will stand to gain from it. To summarise, train to Manipur will open up new vistas in terms of trade and commerce for Barak Valley.”

Talking about trade and commerce, Cachar awaits a Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP). MMLP is a project under the Ministry of Road, Transport, and Highways, Government of India’s Logistics Efficiency Enhancement Programme (LEEP). Nitin Gadkari’s ministry undertook the project to improve the country’s logistics sector by lowering overall freight costs, reducing vehicular pollution and congestion, and cutting warehousing costs. To be specific, the government says these parks will serve five key functions: freight aggregation and distribution, multimodal freight transport, integrated storage and warehousing, information technology support, and value-added services. Logistics in India is estimated to be a $215 billion industry in 2020. It is projected to expand through 2032 at a rate that is roughly 1.2 times the growth rate of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) and generate $360 billion in value-added.

These parks are built near the waterways and are connected with roads and Railways. Manipur getting connected with the rest of the country will make the MMLP in Cachar more relevant as it will work as the hub for multiple states. “Say hypothetically, from Tripura containers will come by train to Silchar. From Silchar, it will be loaded onto waterways and can be shipped to any part of the world including places within the country like Varanasi. So I am looking at it as huge vistas of development that will open up not just in case of trade and commerce but also in employment generation and contribute immensely to Barak Valley’s GDP as well as enhance the standard of living,” says MP Rajdeep Roy.

However, the current state of the MMLP remains unknown and the balls rest on the court of the “centre” and the Silchar MP will have to serve an ace in order to bring home the grand slam – MMLP.

Former Cachar DC Barnali Sharma had said, on February 10, 2020, she had a meeting with then-Commissioner & Secretary to the Government of Assam Industries & Commerce Department, Assam, SS Meenakshi Sundaram, and pitched to bag the project. “This has a capacity of generating direct employment to up to 10,000 people and that is why I went to meet him in person while my father was admitted to the ICU on a death-bed,” said Sharma.

On February 11, 2020, the Commissioner & Secretary to the Government of Assam Industries & Commerce Department, Assam wrote to DC Cachar asking her to identify the land to establish the park. “I immediately had a discussion with the honourable MP of Silchar, Rajdeep Roy about the land acquisition,” added Sharma.

Apart from trade and commerce, the railway connection with Manipur will boost the tourism industry as well. There are hardly any weekend gateways for the people of Cachar and Barak Valley. This route has scenic beauty. The NF Railways informed that the bridge number 53 built on Jiribam – Imphal New Line Project has been constructed on river Barak has its own historical importance. “It is situated at a difficult location where the height of the tallest piers is as high as 75m (more than the height of Qutub Minar). The length of the bridge is 378 meters. The construction of the bridge involved the use of 20,000 cum of concrete, 4,900 tons of reinforcement steel bars, and 2,750 tons of structural steel,” informs NF Railways. The view from the bridge is “magnificent” say the officials who travelled that route.

Widely renowned but hardly visited destinations like the beautiful Loktak lake in Manipur and its floating National park will be easily accessible for the people of Barak Valley. Even Myanmar will become an easy and affordable journey.

This region has potential, it always did and it was well known to the think tanks in Delhi. But it kept lying under the blanket of ignorance. Periphery hardly attracted any investment since the independence and thus stayed far away from the core. The decade ahead has huge potential. But the plans on paper would mean very little, eyes remain on the ground as India “bridges the gap”.