Tripura’s development: The Connectivity Factor

By Anjan Bose

Tucked away in a remote corner of north-east India,abutting Assam and Mizoram, is the small state of Tripura (capital: Agartala). An erstwhile princely kingdom, the history of Tripura is believed to date back to Mahabharata era. Ruled for 

centuries by the progressive Manikya dynasty, Tripura was renowned for its love of arts, music and culture. The partition of India was a traumatic event for Tripura, reducing it to a remote, isolated frontier state of India, encircled on three sides by Bangladesh, with only a long and tenuous link to the rest of India through North Bengal. Denial of traditional access to Kolkata and Chittagong ports through erstwhile East Bengal (now Bangladesh) and inadequate road and railway infrastructure, has, inevitably, affected trade and commerce. In spite of large reserves of natural gas; the second largest acreages under tea and rubber; huge forest wealth and horticultural potential, Tripura has lagged in economic development. This has, in turn, constrained revenue generation for developmental expenditure. 

Part of the problem has also been a lack of focus by Central Governments on the developmental needs of the Northeastern states, till about the early '90s Tripura is, however, on the verge of regaining its past eminence in trade and commerce; arts, education and culture, thanks to the emerging geo-political equations in the Asia-Pacific region. With the 'Look-East Policy' of the Indian Government, aimed at strengthening strategic and trade ties with its eastern neighbours, gathering momentum, the importance of the NE region (including Tripura) has now increased. Successive central governments have, in the recent past, taken action to infuse funds (including increased Budget allocations) and set up institutional frameworks for the development of the northeastern region, including a separate Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER). 

However, mere infusion of external funds is not enough for sustainable development. The State itself has to increase productive employment and resource generation, through trade, tourism and investments. This is, however, easier said than done considering the geographical isolation of Tripura. The lack of economic access to markets and seaport (Kolkata: 1700 km); uncompetitive transportation costs; a simmering extremist tribal movement arising partly from economic discontent, are, presently, powerful disincentives for private sector investments. 

The remedy, therefore, is connectivity- by road, rail, and waterways- to bring the State out of its isolation. This has to be

 the very foundation for all other developmental efforts. Connectivity has to be considered in all its facets and at different levels within the state itself; between the northeastern states; with adjacent countries i.e. Bangladesh and Myanmar; and finally integration with the proposed pan-Asian road and trans-Asian rail systems to realize the immense potential for trade with Southeast Asian countries envisaged in India's 'Look-East Policy'.

Options being pursued by the Indian Government for the connectivity of the north-eastern region include reciprocal transit rights through Bangladesh (currently still some way off due to serious reservations on the part of Bangladesh); access to Sittwe port of Myanmar from Aizawl, Mizoram, through road and river navigation (about 160 km) in Myanmar a proposed 1360 km road to connect Moreh in Manipur to northern Thailand through Myanmar (to be part of the pan-Asian highway eventually) and, internally, the East-West Highway project to connect Silchar in Assam to Porbandar, Saurashtra. 

While these initiatives auger well for the future of Tripura, the intransigency of Bangladesh on transit rights means that the nodal points for national and international connectivity will lie, for the foreseeable future, in other NE states such as Assam, Manipur and Mizoram. This highlights the urgent need for interconnecting Tripura with the adjacent Northeastern states through world class (keeping future international connectivity in mind) road and rail infrastructure.

The time frame for the overland trade routes to east-Asia being uncertain, the first priority is the up-gradation of NH 44/ NH 53 system from Sabroom, at the southern most tip of Tripura, to Silchar via Agartala. This will enable the state to take advantage of the East-West highway and also provide a possible future additional route through Bangladesh to Mizoram and on to Myanmar. Further, the under-construction broad gauge railway link from Assam to Agartala needs to be extended (in spite of initial adverse economic returns) to Sabroom. This will, by providing economic access, open up remote areas of the state for development as well as facilitating future connectivity (as and when Bangladesh agrees) to Chittagong port 75 km away.

Not only will Tripura develop with such connectivity, it may well become, along with the Northeastern region, a prosperous and strategic bridge between India and Southeast Asia. History will then have turned a full circle with Tripura regaining its pre-partition eminence..