AGARTALA, Feb 6 (TIWN): The construction of 150-metre bridge on river Feni at a cost of Rs. 110 crore to connect the land locked State with Chittagong port in Bangladesh, the preliminary work, including making Detailed Project Report, to access Bangladeshi ports to carry goods and heavy machineries for the northeast region is underway. It is to be mentioned here that after preparing the DPR, it would be submitted to Tripura's industries and commerce department, which is a nodal department for the project.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina jointly laid the foundation stone of the Feni river bridge during Modi's two-day Dhaka visit.The 150-metre (490 feet) road bridge over the Feni River will connect the sabroom border town (135 km south of Agartala) of southern Tripura with Ramgarh town in Bangladesh.

After completion, the bridge, located north of the Chittagong international sea port, would provide a significant road link to India's north-eastern states and facilitate greater trade and exchanges between the two countries. 

India and Bangladesh officials had earlier finalised the alignment of the bridge which, according to the official, would have a construction cost of over Rs. 110 crore.

However, all sorts of problems, including land acquisition, have been resolved on either side of the border.

The Tripura government has been asking the central government to take all possible steps to ensure access to Bangladeshi ports to ferry men and material to and fro mountainous north-eastern states and other parts of India via Bangladesh.

India and Bangladesh have already agreed to allow cargo movement through Chittagong sea port. The proposed bridge will connect southern Tripura border at Sabroom, just 72 km off Chittagong port, with Ramgarh town in Bangladesh. The four-lane bridge will also have related infrastructure like a four-lane approach road.

Proposed Bridge over river Feni between Tripura and Chittagong is delaying, plan was to make South Tripura to become trading hub of two countries one day. But till today no such construction work has taken up. In a first step towards making Tripura the gateway of NE India and initiated with one small step it'll surely add special value in the cultural and exchange efforts between Tripura and Bangladesh (especially Chittagong). The proposed bridge will connect Southern Tripura's border town Sabroom, 135 km south of Agartala, with the Bangladeshi border town Ramgarh, 300 km Northest of Dhaka.

The construction of bridge over River Feni would boost the connectivity between two countries, India and Bangladesh.