Dahala Khagrabari

Coordinates: 26°08′59″N 88°45′43″E / 26.14973888°N 88.76195555°E

Dahala Khagrabari, the only third-order enclave in the world

Dahala Khagrabari (#51) is an Indian enclave belonging to the District of Cooch Behar in the State of West Bengal. This is a piece of India within Bangladesh, within India, within Bangladesh.

It is one of the smallest - 7,000 square metres (1.7 acres) - of the Indo-Bangladesh enclaves, albeit not the smallest enclaves among the 106 Indian exclaves inside Bangladesh and 92 Bangladeshi exclaves inside India. However, it is the only third-order enclave in the world.

Overview

Dahala Khagrabari (#51) is completely encircled by the Bangladeshi village of Upanchowki Bhajni, 110, itself contained in the Indian village of Balapara Khagrabari, itself contained in the Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. Thus Dahala Khagrabari is the enclave of an enclave of an enclave. In practice, it is a parcel of land used for farming and is not actually inhabited. It is separated by a few meters of Bangladeshi land from its first-order Indian enclave.

The owner of this enclave is a Bangladeshi farmer who lives in the enclave surrounding Dahala Khagrabari (#51).[1]

Despite its small size, Dahala Khagrabari (#51) is not the smallest of the enclaves found on the Indo-Bangladesh border, the smallest being Panisala No. 79, an Indian enclave of 1,090 square metres (0.27 acres) in the Rangpur Division of Bangladesh.[2]

Due to a lack of governance and unfavourable conditions faced by residents of the enclaves, in September 2011 the governments of India and Bangladesh announced their intention to resolve the issue by means of swapping 162 enclaves, giving residents a choice of nationality,[3][4] however things have not moved since.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The mother of all enclaves" (in Spanish). Fronterasblog.wordpress.com. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  2. ↑ Whyte, Brendan R. (2002). "Waiting for the Esquimo: an historical and documentary study of the Cooch Behar enclaves of India and Bangladesh". The University of Melbourne.
  3. ↑ "Bangladesh, India to swap 162 land parcels". AFP. 30 August 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Hope for Indo-Bangladesh enclaves". NDTV. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.