AGARTALA, Aug 1 (TIWN): Union Minister for Railway Suresh Prabhu during his 2 days Tripura visit sent an important message to Tripura CPI-M Govtthat this is the time to rejuvenate Bamboo based industries and cultivation in Tripura. After BG express train service inauguration from Agartala to New Delhi, Bamboo based industries can utilize the advantage of cheap transportation costs via railways to all across India and exports to foreign countries. As bamboo products demand high and Tripura has lot of opportunities for bamboo cultivation, so this is the actual time to take bamboo production seriously, added Suresh Prabhu.Tripura’s lameduck Industry Dept yet to catch up with any other industries than rubber production which destroyed State’s environment and eco-systems. Express Train is not only for journey & travel, it also build economy by transporting essential goods at cheaper costs . As BG express train a reality in Tripura, so it will automatically generate source for Income and livelihood. ‘Every state is not so lucky to have this kind of greenery, but Tripura’s environment is bamboo-friendly.

Bamboo is not harmful natural product, rather it helps to support the nature”, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu.

Tripura’s massive rubber plantation and illegal Ganja production is damaging the environment but the Central Govt. is pushing Tripura for bamboo cultivation.

 “Ecologically and ideologically Bamboo is always productive, It’s a grass variety not a timber variety”, he added.

However the present Central Govt. is suggesting Tripura Govt. again and  again to take bamboo production seriously. But the state govt. here is to extinct the bamboo culture from Tripura.

Earlier on multiple occasions, DoNER Minister Jitendra Singh also said that Tripura can become a bamboo state.

Now question remains how far Tripura Forest Dept. will take care of the bamboo production in state.

In the month of March, 2016 Tripura Govt. presented a Rs.15, 246.52 crore tax-free budget for 2016-17 with a deficit of Rs.1, 88.54 crore. But Govt. had claimed high about Bamboo production and a huge number of Bamboo cultivation to be held in Triputa.

Govt. also claimed to increase the bamboo production and boost the bamboo based industries in this running year.

It was said that state will introduce the Chinese moso bamboo and develop the mechanized system of bamboo plantation to increase its productivity. But surprisingly, the  Chinese Bamboo production is a matter of far way. The locally available bamboos are on the verge of extinction in Tripura.

Now it seems that the inclusion of Bamboo cultivation in State Budget is for name-sake.

 For example, in a one-day-seminar s held on ‘Total Sanitation & Affordable Housing’ at Sukanta Academy just before a month,  where Experts advised how to inspire people for Bamboo cultivation and how to increase Bamboos demands in Tripura, Minister Badal Choudhury mocks at Experts idea and said, ‘Tripura’s Bamboo cultivation business has gone down and it will take time to re-boost the business.

RD Dept. Engineer S K Majumdar offered a nice economic policy which can be adapted by Tripura Govt. that as  Tripura has around 26, 917 homeless people, so using MGNREGA fund, Tripura Govt. can fulfill the Indira Awash Yojan (IAY) in next 1 year ifBamboo made homes (of good quality) are to be provided. This will not only provide homes to the homeless in a faster way, but will increase the demand of Bamboos in state---- and it may help to improve the economy of the state. Otherwise high price Bamboo products available in Purbasa will never motivate the Bamboo-tradition here.

But PWD Minister Badal Choudhury told him openly that Govt. can not provide bamboo made homes to the poor people, as it will hurt the sentiment of the people. Although Choudhury didn’t mention that more than 26,000 people are still homeless.

In this situation Central Railway Minister’s suggestion about bamboo seems not to keep not any value in Tripura.

Either way, Manik Sarkar’s dumb communist policies turned Tripura a graveyard as no major industries and employments because communists main agenda is ‘generating mass poverty, derivation  to create poors for vote bank’.