History, heritage of Lalmonirhat's Railway trade, changing borders
Md. Lavlu Sheikh, Lalmonirhat.
The history and heritage of Lalmonirhat's Railway trade and changing borders.
Once upon a time, the train whistle was not just a call to travel. For the people of Uttaranchal, it was a glimpse of a new world. Steam engines blowing smoke. Trains moving rhythmically on iron wheels and crowds of people waiting at the station.
Through all this, the quality of life of a town has changed. Today, everyone knows Lalmonirhat as a border district of Bangladesh. But once upon a time, that town was an important center of North-East Indian railway communication.
The railway line spread out towards Rangpur, Parbatipur, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Assam, centered around Lalmonirhat Junction. Before the partition, people and goods used to move on the railway line without any barbed wire at the border. After 1947, the international border was drawn on the same railway line. The railway history of Lalmonirhat is not only the history of the railway. It is also the history of Uttaranchal's economy, trade, urbanization, colonial rule, and ultimately partition.
In the late 19th century, Lalmonirhat was mainly an agricultural and river-dependent town. Teesta, Dharla, Satindi and other rivers influenced the life and economy of the region. The main means of transporting goods and people were waterways and land routes. But the economic needs of the British rule were different. The agricultural products of the greater Uttaranchal, especially jute, wheat, maize and other raw materials, had to be transported quickly. At the same time, the tea-garden rich region had to be connected to a larger commercial market. Railways became the most effective solution to that need. Through the construction of railway lines, the geography of the greater Uttaranchal began to be redrawn.
The North Bengal State Railway opened a meter gauge railway from Parbatipur to Kaunia in 1879. Then the railway was extended from Kaunia to the Dharla River. Later, this railway system turned Lalmonirhat into an important junction. It would be wrong to imagine Lalmonirhat of this time with today's eyes. At that time, there was no modern city here. There was no today's administrative structure. The railway was gradually creating a new center for the town. The construction of the Lalmonirhat Railway Station was completed in 1899. Later, the administrative importance of this place also increased around the railway. According to the district administration, on September 27, 1901, the Kulaghat Thana was abolished and the Lalmonirhat Sadar Thana was established for the present Lalmonirhat Sadar area. In other words, the railway did not only come to Lalmonirhat. With the arrival of the railway, Lalmonirhat also began to be reborn anew.
Lalmonirhat Junction: - 4 lanes on all sides
Lalmonirhat's importance grew rapidly in the late 19th century. On the one hand, it had connections with Parbatipur and other parts of North Bengal. On the other hand, it had a railway line to Cooch Behar and Duars.
Overall, Lalmonirhat became an important railway hub. The Bengal Dooars Railway, formed in 1891, played an important role in the development of rail communication in the Dooars region. One of the goals of that railway was to open up the West Dooars and facilitate the economic use of the growing tea industry and forest resources. Lalmonirhat became an important junction in that network. On November 20, 1900, a rail connection was established from Dooars to Lalmonirhat Junction. As a result, the commercial connection between Lalmonirhat and Dooars and North Bengal was further strengthened. The railway line did not only carry passengers at that time. Various goods including tea, jute, paddy, wood and others were transported on that railway. Markets, warehouses, businesses, residential areas and employment started to develop around the station. A railway station gradually became the heart of a city.
One of the most emotional chapters in Lalmonirhat's railway history is the Mogolhat Railway Station and Police Immigration. The border railway station, located on the banks of the Dharla River, was once an important part of the inter-regional communication of the Indian subcontinent. There was rail communication from Mogolhat to Gitaldaha, Cooch Behar and Golakganj. Later, the network was connected to Assam. It is mentioned from various sources in railway history that Mogolhat station was opened in 1896. Standing at that Mogolhat today, the sharp contrast between the busyness of the past and the silence of the present is visible. The ruins of the old bridge seem to ask. Why is the path that once carried people, goods and dreams stopped today ?
On the way to distant Assam via Lalmonirhat
One of the brightest memories of Lalmonirhat's railway glory is the Assam Mail. Before the partition, that important train used to run from Santahar to Guwahati via Lalmonirhat. Lalmonirhat was then one of the main bridges of rail communication between Greater East Bengal and Assam. Let's imagine what a morning would have been like at that time! A steam engine was standing at Lalmonirhat Railway Station. Passengers were busy on the platform. Some were going to Assam, some to Cooch Behar, some to other cities in North Bengal. Traders' goods were getting on the train, tea garden products were going to the market. The engine's whistle was coming from afar. At that time, there was still no international border called India-Pakistan. People were going from one territory to another on the same railway line. Places that today belong to different countries. Now they are just memories. At that time, the railway did not know the language of the border.
Railways and urbanization of Lalmonirhat
Before the arrival of the railway, a town was as important as it was. After the arrival of the railway, its importance increased many times. Lalmonirhat is a prime example of this. The railway did not just build stations. It created employment. The lives of countless people including station masters, drivers, guards, pointsmen, craftsmen, engineers, coolies, and businessmen have been linked to the railway. Railway colonies have been established. Markets have expanded. A new business class has emerged. People from far away have come in search of work. Educational and cultural contacts have also increased. In this way, a railway station has gradually changed the social structure of a city. If we are to understand the development of today's Lalmonirhat city, there is no way to ignore the role of the railway.
A border in the middle of the same railway line
In 1947, India was partitioned. A line was drawn on the map. But that line was not just drawn on paper. It was also drawn on people's lives. There was free communication on the railway from Lalmonirhat to Cooch Behar, Gitaldaha, Golakganj, Assam. Suddenly, a national border came into being there. The same railway line became the territory of two countries. The train that had been running without a passport or visa until yesterday had to follow the rules of the international border the next day. The normal flow of trade was disrupted. Many old connections were severed. The history of the Mogulhat and Gitaldaha railway lines is one of the symbols of that partition. Before the partition, Lalmonirhat was the center of communication: after the partition, it became the edge of the border.
The railway line was lost, but the memory was not lost, now carrying history and tradition.
Even after the partition, initiatives were taken at various times to restore rail communication between Bangladesh and India. But the old network has not returned to its previous state. The abandoned railway track of Mogulhat, the ruins of the old bridge of Dharla or the old railway establishment of Lalmonirhat bear witness to that lost era today. However, the railway of Lalmonirhat has not completely become a thing of the past.
After independence, Lalmonirhat has maintained an important position in the northern network of Bangladesh Railway. Direct meter gauge train communication between Dhaka and Lalmonirhat was introduced in 2004. Currently, there is rail communication with different parts of the country from Lalmonirhat Junction. But the current connection is very limited compared to the city that was once the center of the international and inter-regional rail network.
A story of possibility
The railway history of Lalmonirhat also leaves us with a question. The city, which was once one of the main railway bridges between North Bengal and Assam, cannot be developed as an important hub for regional rail communication again? Lalmonirhat's geographical location is still important. On one side is the northern part of Bangladesh, on the other side is Cooch Behar and Assam of India, and Bhutan is nearby. As a result, the old railway tradition can open the door to new possibilities in the new era of regional trade and communication. Especially if the historical railway connection like Mogalhat and Gitaldaha is revived, it will not only connect two railway stations. It will connect a historical communication geography that was once isolated. Finally, history returns to the whistle of the railway
Even today, when a train enters the Lalmonirhat railway station, we may only see the arrival of a train. But if we listen carefully, we can hear the story of a town that is more than a hundred years old in that whistle. We can hear the sound of a steam engine. We can hear the rhythm of the wheels of the (Assam Mail). We can hear the busy platform of Mogulhat. We can hear the conversations of people coming from Cooch Behar. We can hear the sigh of the railway that suddenly stopped in 1947. The Lalmonirhat railway is not just two parallel iron lines.
It once connected people to people, markets to markets, North Bengal to Assam, and a town to the larger subcontinent. The map has changed. The state has changed. The border has changed. But the memory of the railway remains. And that memory reminds us! The railway sometimes does not just reduce distance. Sometimes it also brings history closer. All in all, to keep the history and tradition of Bangladesh Railway and the greater Uttaranchar including Lalmonirhat on the border alive. To restart it. The conscious community has called on everyone to come forward.
