Structural Analysis of Existing Road Networks of Cooch Behar District, West Bengal, India: A Transport Geographical Appraisal

Abstract

Road has been described as the life-blood of human civilisation. Social interaction and economic prosperity in space have been shaped by the road networks both at intra and inter regional levels. Consequently, it is regarded as one of the most important indices of economic, social and commercial progress of any region. The study area, Cooch Behar District of West Bengal, India ranked 11 out of 19 districts of West Bengal in development indices in spite of its immense historical background. The district does not have any remarkable industrial establishments with the population engaged in subsistence agriculture marked by low yield and productivity. An attempt has been made through the present study to explore the existing pattern and spatial variations of road networks of the study area with the help of structural measures of transportation network. The study reveals that blocks of Cooch Behar district had minimum road density and most of the blocks are characterised by minimum efficiency of road network in terms of connectivity. The efficiency of road network is very low and higher spatial imbalance.

Keywords: Spatial variation, road network, efficiency, connectivity, accessibility