10 Fun facts about Moreh, Manipur

#1 Moreh is a town located on the India-Myanmar border in the Tengnoupal district of the Indian state of Manipur. The town is mainly inhabited by the Kuki community and a sizable number of Tamil, Nepali, Meitei, Punjabi, Telugu, Bihari, Marwari and Muslim Pangals

#2Moreh plays a very important role in connection with the India-Myanmar relationship and is also a rapidly developing trade point in India on the border with Myanmar, with the city of Tamu on the other side of the border. 

#3Moreh is already a huge commercial hub, and economists suggested that it could become a bustling city in the next couple of decades. The town is already seen as the commercial capital of Manipur and India’s Gateway to South-East Asia.

#4The Indo-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Moreh connects India to Kalewa in Myanmar’s Sagaing division. The highway on the Myanmar side is intended to run up to Mandalay but it is in bad shape. Indian planners hope the rail link to Moreh will eventually be connected to the Myanmar railway system, allowing onward connectivity to Thailand and China. 

#5The proposed ICP will facilitate the speedy movement of export-import consignments and reduce any inconvenience to the general public from any increase in trade from India’s Look East Policy. The state government has identified 18.41 hectares of land near Gate No.1 within customs notified area. RITES, a Central Public Sector undertaking have prepared a DPR for Moreh ICP costing Rs 136 crores and is under the process of implementation

#6As Moreh shares a border with Myanmar, it is a transit point for trafficking illicit drugs to the international market. 

#7India’s foreign minister met with Myanmar’s construction minister in Delhi on February 22, 2012, and spoke about opening a highway between Moreh, in India, and the Myanmar-Thai border near Mae Sot. Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Thein Sein have set a deadline of 2016 to provide trilateral road connectivity, that would make it possible to drive from India to Thailand via Myanmar.

#8Air-Moreh is 110 kilometers from Imphal. Imphal is connected by air with Kolkata and New Delhi. Indian Airlines, Jet Airways connects Imphal to Delhi, over a four hours journey. Imphal to Kolkata is one hour, Aizwal is 30 minutes away, Jorhat is 35 minutes away and Silchar is 30 minutes away. Guwahati is the major airport which is 50 minutes flight from Imphal.

Rail– Moreh is 110 kilometres from Imphal. The nearest railway station is Dimapur and Manipur Road on the North East Frontier Railway (NEF) nearly 215 kilometres from Imphal. Another railway station is in Jiribam 225 kilometres from Imphal. Travellers can travel up to Guwahati (nearest major railhead from Imphal) by bus or by air.

Road– Moreh is 110 kilometres from Imphal. One can reach Dimapur from Imphal 215 kilometres on National Highway 39 or Guwahati from Imphal nearly 500 kilometres along National Highway 39. Silchar is also connected to Imphal by a 10 hours drive by bus.

#9The recent opening of the border trade turned Moreh into an important commercial hub in North – East. Just on the other side of the border, at Namphanglong, there is a big Myanmar’s shopping complex selling all kinds of Thai and Chinese consumer goods which comes at a reasonable low price. 

#10The supermarket serves as a huge shopping arcade. Generally, the prices are cheaper there. Even tours are organized from Moreh in Manipur to Myanmarese towns like Kalimiew and Mandlay. Such a tour is one of the rare opportunities in which the Indian rupee is valued nearly eight times as per valuation or conversion rate of Myanmar Baht and the commodities are generally not available that easily anywhere.

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