Profile of Karimganj District, Assam, India

Communication and Transportation

Karimganj District is located at the southern fringe of the state of Assam, in the North-east India. Although various modes of communication to this district is available, due to the remoteness from the mainland of India, the existing transportation and communication facility is a major bottleneck in the development process of the district.

Road Communication

Map of Karimganj with Communication Links

The major road link to the district is National Highway 44 which starts from Shillong in Meghalaya and after passing through Karimganj, goes upto Agartala in Tripura state. It also provides a major intra-district communication backbone as it covers a stretch of more than 83 Kms in this district. After entering through Karimganj-Hailakandi border at Badarpurghat, it connects important places like Badarpur, Karimganj Town, Nilambazar, Patherkandi, Lowairpoa etc, before entering Tripura at Churaibari. Road link to the nearest major town Silchar is provided by N.H. 53. Besides, a new National Highway 151 has been sanctioned for connecting Karimganj Town with Sutarkandi on the Bangladesh. This is largely meant to facilitate border trade with Bangladesh by road. For details on Road distances of Karimganj Town from various places, click

Road Distances from Karimganj Town (In Kms.)
Outside District		Inside District
Place	Distance	Place	Distance
Agartala	259	Anipur	45
Aizwal	250	Bazarghat	37
Guwahati	338	Bazaricherra	53
Hailakandi	55	Bhanga	15
Imphal		Badarpur	23
Silchar	55	Badarpurghat	25
Shillong	225	Baraigram	24
Dharmanagar	83	Bhairabnagar	39
		Churaibari	57
		Dullavcherra	51
		Kathaltoli	52
		Kalinagar	61
		Kalibari Bazar	62
		Kaliganj	16
		Lowairpoa	49
		Latu	13
		Lakshmi Bazar	12
		Mahisashan	19
		Nilambazar	15
		Nivia	59
		Patherkandi	31
		Ratabari	42
		Ramkrishna Nagar	50
		Rangamati	71
		Sutarkandi	12

The total road length in Karimganj district as on 31st March, 1998 was 1455.23 Kms. out of which 249.45 Kms. is metalled 1205.78 Kms. is kuchcha. These roads are built and maintained by various organisations like BRO, PWD, NEC, Forest, DRDA, local bodies and so on.
For both goods and passenger transportation, road is the most widely used mode. Karimganj is well connected by direct night service buses from Guwahati, Shillong, Aizwal etc. operated by many operators, mostly private. Agartala is also connected through direct day service buses. Silchar, Badarpur, Patherkandi, R.K. Nagar and other places are connected by various transports like bus, minibus, utility vans etc.

Rail Communication

In earlier times, rail communication used to be the most preferred mode of communication both for passenger and cargo. In the pre-independance era, Karimganj Railway station was a major hub of rail communication as the whole of Assam and present day North-east was connected by a major rail link passing through present day Bangladesh. After independance of India, which was accompanied by partition of the land, the main rail link was sealed and Karimganj railway junction lost much of its importance. Even now, a train service is operated through this truncated rail-link from Karimganj Junction to the border station of Mahishasan which is just at a distance of 12 Kms.

Badarpur, in Karimganj district is still now the major railway junction and main hub in the entire Barak Valley and southern Assam. Direct train services are available to Guwahati, Lumding, Silchar, Dharmanagar-Kumarghat (in Tripura), Bhairabi (in Mizoram). Silchar-Badarpur-Karimganj-Dharmanagar train service is also an important railway service, although with the rising popularityof the road transport system, this has lost much of its importance in the last few years. Rail links also exist between Karimganj and Dullavcherra through Baraigram Junction.

The Hill Section of the N.F. Railway, connecting Lumding and Badarpur is a major arterial rail link of Barak Valley with the rest of the country. This single-track meter-gauge line passing through tortuous hill tracks in North Cachar Hills plays a role of immense importance in the economy of Karimganj District, and for that matter, for entire Barak Valley, Tripura, Mizoram and part of Manipur.

Air Communication

Karimganj district does not have its own airport. However, the nearest airport at Kumbhirgram (near Silchar - in cachar district) at a distance of 83 Kms. from Karimganj town (48 Kms. from Badarpurghat) serves as the major communication link point for the people of Karimganj. Indian Airlines (Alliance Air) operates flight services in the Silchar-Calcutta (6 days per week) and Silchar-Imphal (3 days per week) routes from this airport.

River Communication

River transportation link exists between Karimganj and Calcutta through Bangladesh. Central Inland Water Transport Corporation maintains jetty and warehouse at Karimganj Town by the side of Kushiara River for handling and storage of cargo carried by steamers by this route. Although this provides a very cheap mode of cargo transportation, the service has largely been an irregular one.

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