How India Is Playing It Smart With New Rail Line From Bihar To Bengal Via Nepal

India is building a new railway line from Jogbani in Bihar’s Araria district to New Mal Junction in Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district through Nepal. 

This 190-kilometre line, which will roughly follow an existing road alignment, will bypass the 22-kilometre wide ‘chicken’s neck’ corridor of Bengal that’s wedged between Bangladesh on its east and Nepal to its west. 

The existing railway lines from Bihar to Bengal, which is used by major and important mail and express trains that connect North Bengal and also the North East with the rest of the country, pass through volatile, Muslim-dominated Uttar Dinajpur and the southern part of Darjeeling districts of Bengal.

'Chicken's Neck' Corridor

Lying next to Bangladesh, the ‘chicken’s neck’ corridor has witnessed an influx of illegal Muslim infiltrators from that country and the whole area has undergone an irreversible demographic change. 

The Bangladeshi Muslim infiltrators who now dominate the ‘chicken’s neck’ corridor, suspect central intelligence agencies, can easily act on behalf of foreign powers inimical to India’s interests. 

“These illegal migrants from Bangladesh are mostly radical Islamists and can act at the behest of Islamist outfits and terror groups. They can act as saboteurs and disrupt rail and road links passing through the ‘chicken’s neck’ corridor, thus severing North Bengal and the North East from the rest of the country,” a senior officer of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) stationed in Kolkata told Swarajya. 

Also, the eastern districts of Bihar — Kishanganj, Purnia and Katihar — are also dominated by Muslims who are getting increasingly radicalised. The existing rail routes from western and northern India to North Bengal and North East India pass through all these three districts. 

Muslim residents of these three districts of Bihar have, in recent times, attacked running passenger trains and disrupted rail communication over many grievances, including the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). 

“These three districts have become volatile with the growing radicalisation of the Muslims there. Radical Islamist clerics have started wielding a lot of influence there and many terror groups have established modules there. The loyalties of these radicalised Muslims are also suspect and they can act as the ‘fifth column’ for a foreign adversary,” said another officer of the Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB). 

That is why India is constructing an alternate rail route through Nepal bypassing the 'chicken’s neck' corridor. The new rail line will head northwards from Jogbani railway station (which is next to the India-Nepal border) to Biratnagar in Nepal and then continue northwards before turning east and exiting Nepal through Bhadrapur or Mechinagar to enter Bengal. 

“This route will bypass the Muslim-dominated areas of Bihar and Bengal and will provide a safe passage in case saboteurs disrupt communication links in the ‘chicken’s neck’ corridor,” said the SIB officer.

It may be mentioned here that notorious Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam had, during the anti-CAA protests in January 2020, called for cutting off the 'chicken’s neck' corridor to disrupt communication links with Assam. 

Addressing an anti-CAA demonstration, Imam had said (watch this video): “Main pehle bhi keh chuka hun ki agar 5 lakh log hon hamare paas organised, to hum Hindustan aur Assam ko permanently cut kar sakte hain. Permanently nahi, toh kam se kam ek aad mahine ke liye toh kar hi sakte hain”.

(Translation: “I have said this before as well, if we can organise a crowd of five lakh people, we can cut off Assam permanently from India. If not permanently, at least for half a month or a month.”)

He also said: “Matlab itna mavaad dalo patriyon pe, road pe ki unko hatane main hi ek aad mahina lag jaye...Assam ko kaatna hamari jimmedari hai. Assam aur India cut ke alag ho jaye, tabhi ye hamari baat sunenge."

(Translation: “Dump such a load of materials on the railway tracks and roads that it takes a month to remove them and clear the tracks and roads. Only if we can cut off Assam will they listen to us). 

Sharjeel, who is now in prison, said that the ‘chicken’s neck’ corridor “belongs to Muslims”  since Muslims are in a majority in the area. He called upon the Muslims to block the movement of troops and all commodities through the corridor. 

Plans For The New Line

The Indian Railways sanctioned a final location survey (FLS) for the route from Biratnagar through the rest of Nepal to the Indo-Nepalese border in Bengal. 

Nepal will construct the rail tracks passing through its territory with technical assistance from India. The entire cost will be borne by India. 

Nepal will be able to use the rail tracks to run freight and passenger trains. India is helping the Nepal government-owned Nepal Railway Company with manpower training in operating trains and running the railways. 

“It’s a win-win project for both Nepal and India. We will get broad-gauge rail tracks and also rolling stock, as well as skills training for our manpower, from India. India will be able to run its goods and freight trains through the proposed railway line through Nepal,” Nepal Railways director general Ajay Kumar Mull told Swarajya. 

The entire project cost will be worked out after the FLS is completed. Rail lines on small portions between Nepal and India already exist and will have to be upgraded, but the major portion will have to be constructed. 

According to Indian Railway officials, in case of any disruption of rail communication in easternmost Bihar or the 'chicken’s neck' corridor, all trains between north and west India and north Bengal and North East India can be diverted through Nepal. 

The proposed rail line through Nepal will be able to carry high-speed mail and express trains and will be equipped with modern signalling, communication and safety systems.

Indian Railways will bear the entire cost and responsibility of training Nepal Railway Company personnel and will even depute technical and support staff to provide on-the-job training and skill upgradation to Nepal Railway Company personnel.

Nepal will start acquiring land for the railway line once the FLS survey is done and India greenlights the route alignment through Nepal. Land acquisition will not be a problem, said Nepal Railways chief Mull. 

In case any land needs to be acquired from private parties for the railway project through Nepal, India will bear the cost of their compensation and rehabilitation. Nepal has committed itself to speedy acquisition of the land required for construction of the railway line. 

A final date for the completion of the project has not been fixed with Indian Railway officials saying it is too early to decide on a time frame. However, it is learnt that once the route alignments and other matters are finalised, a target of five years will be marked for completing the project. 

Hopefully, by the end of this decade or by early 2030, India will get a new route for safe passage of trains to and from North Bengal and the North East to the rest of the country bypassing Muslim-dominated trouble-prone areas in east Bihar and the 'chicken’s neck' corridor in Bengal.