India and Bangladesh have a common border of 4156 km covering West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, and Meghalaya of which the border with West Bengal is 2217 km. The border includes paddy and jute fields, water bodies, rivers, and mangrove forests of the Sunderbans.
Location
Coochbehar is the north-eastern district of
West Bengal has a border with Bangladesh of 550 km of which only 250 km is under fencing. Rest is an open border
where from the regular legal and illegal movement of the population takes place
around the year.
There is a unique place comprising of few
villages of Berubari in Mekhliganj block of Coochbehar District which
is like an enclave, with the landmasses of territories of Bangladesh on
both sides. Similarly, Bangladesh has two villages Dahagram and Angrapota,
which are accessible from main Bangladesh through a dedicated corridor, known as Tin Bigha.
History
Tin Bigha has a long history of its creation.
After the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman, the
then prime minister of Bangladesh requested Mrs. Indira Gandhi, prime minister
of India, to provide access to the enclave consisting of two villages
through a corridor so that the people of both the enclaves could reach the main
country. A portion of land consisting of 178 meters (584 ft) by 85 meters (279 ft) which was locally measured as 3 Bighas (1 Katta is 720 sq ft and 20 Katta makes 1 Bigha) was earmarked for
the dedicated corridor. The nomenclature was derived from the total
area of land covering the corridor.
There was huge resistance from the local
population against providing passage but ultimately the demand of the local
people was ruled out. The agitation had cost few lives and so “Sahid
Divas” is still observed on 26th June every year to commemorate the
sacrifice of the lives of the protestors who opposed the opening of the
corridor. Initially, Bangladesh wanted to take over the entire
land but the Indian constitution was against such a
measure. The land ultimately remained with India. Bangladesh could have
access to Tin Bigha under a lease agreement.
There is a large camp of Border Security
Force which maintains the discipline of the corridor. Flag hoisting and flag-lowering functions take place every day just like Atari (Punjab) or Akhaura
(Tripura) border but with limited glamour and much lower scale.
However, the border has not been earmarked
for immigration on both sides and restriction has been imposed to avoid border
infiltration. Fencing has been installed near the border to mark the territory
of each country as no man’s land. But the partition conducted in 1947 had
created confusion as many of the farmers were having their residential houses
in India but their paddy or jute fields either in no man’s land or in
Bangladesh.
In these areas, the peculiar situation is
that some of the landmasses within India belonged to Bangladesh and vice versa.
These are locally called “Chhit Mahals”. The word “Chhit” in Bengali means a
piece or part and “Mahal” means palace. Otherwise, the houses or lands which fall
apart from the main area of landmass are called by this nomenclature. The
residents are in a pitiable condition. As they do not belong to a particular
country, they are deprived of basic amenities like electricity, water, public
roads, sanitation, and furthermore identity cards so as to make a free movement.
However, the process has been initiated by both the governments to transfer
these “Chhit Mahals” so that these populations have access to the mainstream population.
The majority of the population staying around
corridors are farmers and peasants and a small section of the working population
are engaged in other activities. Though there is an opportunity for paddy and jute
cultivation which are done traditionally, the restriction has been imposed on
jute cultivation. Jute plants at their full height restrict visibility
against illegal migration to Border Security Force personnel guarding the
border.
Photography of the corridor has been restricted on account of being an international border and strategic army location.
Location
The distance from Coochbehar Town and
Jalpaiguri Town is 116 km and 54 km respectively. Since there is irregular public transport for Tin Bigha, the
tourists have to depend on owned or hired vehicle for return to their
destination in district headquarters The nearest railway station is New
Changrabandha (an immigration border of India and Bangladesh) a part of North
East Frontier Railway which is 23 km away from the corridor. People visiting
both the districts and also local people often visit the corridor to witness
the flag-lowering function in the evening conducted just after sunset by the Border
Security Force.
India has a total land border of around 15200 km with Pakistan, China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan in
west, north, and east of which the longest border of 4097 km is with Bangladesh.
There are porous as well as non-porous borders depending upon the diplomatic
relationship with the respective countries.
Why Visit Tin Bigha
But Tin Bigha has a unique feature of a
passage to villages of Bangladesh that is prevalent nowhere in the entire
border of India. We are aware of the Attari (Wagha) border where army march-past has
been showcased that attracts a lot of visitors especially in the tourist season
and on weekends.
Since the Tin Bigha corridor is an off-beat
destination, the footfall of tourists and visitors is much less. But the tourism department of the Government of West Bengal can publicize the location with
proper logistics and infrastructure so as to attract sizeable tourists and
visitors coming to North Bengal.
Can we not invite tourists and visitors to the state and the nation to visit the unique international corridor with more publicity and advertisement?
Photo Courtesy Google
Video Courtesy Youtube
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