Method to Assess the Accessibility of Essential Amenities in Tripura, North East India

Ease of access to a service or an amenity is measured by its accessibility level. In urban/rural areas, the key parameter used to measure accessibility is road connectivity. This is usually measured by the distance and/or time from the origin to the location of various amenities providing health, education, banking, shopping and other services. In addition to distance/time, for hilly regions like Tripura, North East India, road safety also plays a major role in accessibility to various amenities. This study first measures the level of amenities within a village and represents this with a score, viz. self-sufficient score (3S score). This score is further upgraded considering the amenities available outside that village but in nearby larger villages/cities. Unsignalized intersections being the most dangerous locations in hilly regions, the level of road safety has been measured based on road geometry information, i.e. the number of intersections, sharpness of the road curve coupled with altitude of the roads between the subject village and amenities in other villages/cities. This is known as the safety score of intersections. The value of the upgraded 3S score coupled with the safety score for intersections is considered in ranking the villages for their access to various amenities. The villages with minimum scores have been identified for further decision-making process.