A Thin Stretch
The Chicken’s Neck, a 60-kilometre long and 22-kilometre wide stretch running for the greater part through West Bengal, has of late become cause for heightened security concerns given the political churn in neighbouring Bangladesh and its recent skirmishes with India over the construction of “agreed upon” fences.
It is 13 kilometres at its narrowest point and 23 kilometres at its widest point, and is home to anything between 25 and 30 lakh people of a variety of ethnicities. This includes Bengali, Dhimal, Rajbanshi, Gorkha, Adivasi, Bihari, Bhutia and Sikkimese. The length of the Chicken’s Neck has Bihar’s Kishanganj at one extremity and Siliguri at the other. The districts of Bengal that overlap with it are Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling; Coochbehar and Alipurduar districts run contiguous to it. The Chicken’s Neck cuts through the populous Siliguri town and this is why it is also known as the Siliguri Corridor. “Pre-Partition, this corridor did not exist. It came into being only after 1947,” says Vimal Khawas, who is a professor at JNU’s Special Centre for the Study of North East India.
No Alternative
It is the only land link between the Northeast and the rest of India. Says retired Lt General Abhay Krishna, who is a former Eastern Army Commander, “We regard it as a gateway not only to the northeastern region but also to Southeast Asia through Myanmar.” Krishna says, “The other route could be through the Indian Ocean, south of Bangladesh, which is unfortunately in turmoil, considering the prevailing situation in Myanmar and Bangladesh.” The Modi government had proposed the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project along this route, but nothing has moved so far. And that holds true for the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway — stretching from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand — as well.
The corridor is crucial for transit and trade, domestic as well as international. One million vehicles — trucks, buses, SUVs, private cars, two-wheelers — use this corridor every day, transporting 2,400 metric tonnes of goods and generating ₹142 crore of revenue.
Several oil and gas pipelines and electricity grids pass through this region.
Says Khawas, “Absolute control over this corridor is vital for defence purposes and mobility of armed forces.” He continues, “The corridor plays a crucial role in promoting tourism in the northeastern states, which are known for their rich biodiversity, scenic beauty and cultural heritage. This unique piece of land is itself an ecological hotspot.”
Connections and more Connections
The corridor touches the states of Bihar and Sikkim and is hemmed in by three countries — Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. But don’t forget China. The southernmost tip of Chumbi Valley in the Tibet Autonomous Region jutting into the Chicken’s Neck may look like a dagger between Sikkim and Bhutan on the map, but is in reality an access point for China opening straight into the corridor.
Krishna says, “The corridor lies near the Doklam Plateau and Chumbi Valley, making it vulnerable to potential Chinese advances. Jhamperi Ridge on the Indo-Bhutan border offers a strategic view of the corridor, which is why China had tried to come up to this point during the 2017 Doklam standoff. We had to intervene and stop them.” China can access the corridor from Nathu La, Jelep La and the Kitapsi Heights, all of which are in Sikkim.
There are nine prominent railway stations in the stretch that is the corridor — Kishanganj, Aluabari Road, Thakurganj, Naxalbari, Tin Mile Haat, Chatterhaat, Rangapani, New Jalpaiguri and Siliguri. Two train lines run through it. One is from Kishanganj in Bihar to New Jalpaiguri Junction in Siliguri. The other is from Kishanganj to Siliguri Junction via Aluabari Road. There are about 19 passenger trains and 10-12 freight trains. The goods trains carry betel nut, rubber, tea, timber, bamboo, petroleum products, coal, black pepper and large cardamom from the Northeast to the rest of India. The passenger trains carry tourists — domestic and foreign — and migrant labourers from the rest of India to the Northeast.
The most populous point in the corridor is Siliguri town. Says Siddarth Pradhan, who is a writer-researcher and tourism consultant, “The population has grown steadily due to migration from neighbouring countries. Some people enter India through the corridor and journey onward from Bagdogra or Calcutta to West Asia or Southeast Asia.”
The major navigable rivers flowing through it are Torsa, Teesta, Jaldhaka and Dyna. These stitch the corridor with Nepal and Bhutan. The other important rivers are the Mahananda, Mechi and Mai Khola.
According to Raj Basu, who is tourism adviser to various state governments, “The Chicken’s Neck is sandwiched between two very important trade routes — one is the ancient Silk Route and the other is the riverine route along the Bay of Bengal. If the Chicken’s Neck is taken away by China, it can combine the two routes. Right now, China has to follow the riverine route around the South China Sea.”
Attention
- 20 military and police checkposts
- 8 customs checkposts
- 8-10 anti-trafficking outposts
“But illegal routes through the forests outnumber them. There are many,” says a customs officer who does not want to be identified. Dense forests cover 30 per cent of the corridor, the major ones being Gorumara National Park, Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary, Baikunthapur Forest and Buxa Tiger Reserve. Says Khawas, “The corridor is a crucial elephant passageway and facilitates their movement between India, Nepal and Bhutan.” There are eight NGOs working to prevent human trafficking and six working towards preventing wildlife trafficking.
‘Dangerous Place’
There are multiple illegal entry points into the corridor and along it, from Nepal, from Bhutan and from Bangladesh. These are reportedly used by smugglers, human traffickers and for insurgency-related activities. The corridor is, therefore, highly susceptible to external influences or disruptions,” says Krishna.
Earlier this month, the Border Security Force and the Border Guard Bangladesh had a standoff when the BSF tried putting up a fence on the Indian side.
Garments, animal hides, elephant tusks, cows, coal, stones, drugs, poppy seed and antiques are smuggled out of India via Nepal and Bangladesh using the corridor. Creatures such as monitor lizards are also smuggled out. “Once a truckload of kangaroos was intercepted near Siliguri. The truck was coming from Myanmar,” says the customs officer.
According to him, such consignments usually wind their way to China down the corridor via Nepal. He continues, “One time, I seized a box loaded with a dozen stolen idols made of black stone. The estimated market value of the idols was around ₹33 crore.”
The Mechi Bridge connecting Kakarvitta in Nepal and Panitanki, which is on the corridor, is notorious as a human trafficking route. Trafficking happens in broad daylight.
“There is no checking, no passport required to walk into India,” claims the customs officer. Drug traffickers from Bhutan enter India through the Jaigaon checkpost that connects to the corridor. While the cow, coal, sand and gold smugglers from Bangladesh enter the corridor from Fulbari, Islampur and Chopra.
According to sources, every month at least 15 to 20 trafficked people including women and children are rescued at the border. The number of people trafficked is much higher. Not all trafficking is blatant.
According to the customs officer, once he intercepted a batch of fake Indian passports in the corridor. They were sent over from Nepal. Racketeers use such fake documents to transport trafficked women and children out of India to West Asia and other countries.
And the list of dangers goes on and on.
Unlike the chicken and egg, there is no conundrum surrounding the Chicken’s Neck. It most definitely came first and the worries followed.