Siliguri Corridor: Between Strategic Necessity and Ecological Precarity
Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statements during his recent visit to Siliguri have brought focused attention to the practical requirements of safeguarding the Siliguri Corridor. He described the Corridor as one of the most sensitive and critical zones in the country, connecting eight northeastern states to the rest of India and therefore is vital for national security. While he gave various directives correctly identifying the urgency of hardening physical control and improving inter-agency coordination, they largely remain incomplete if treated solely as a security-centric package.
An implementable policy complement would be the formal establishment of a Siliguri Corridor Integrated Management Authority (SCIMA), a statutory body under the Ministry of Home Affairs with representation from the Ministries of Defence, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Development of North Eastern Region, as well as the governments of West Bengal, Assam, and Bihar.
