AGARTALA, Aug 18 (TIWN): Bangladesh Government has recently approved to begin with the construction of laying 15 KM track at the side of Bangladesh and the work to begin soon.
It is to be mentioned here that DPR for laying 5km of track in the India’s section is already submitteto DoNER ministry. However, the centre has sanctioned money for acquiring land and for laying of five km long tracks on the Indian side and the source claimed that the construction work will begin in this financial year. The Indian government has sanctioned around Rs 1,000 crore for a 15-km India-Bangladesh railway project, the source informed The union government has recently communicated to Tripura that it had sanctioned Rs 580 crore to lay the rail tracks and acquire required land in Tripura. On the other hand the external affairs ministry earlier agreed to provide Rs 400 crore to lay the new tracks and to acquire land in Bangladeshi territory. Indian and Bangladesh governments have decided to start a new rail link to ease surface transport. India will build a 15-km railway tracks linking Tripura’s capital Agartala with Bangladesh’s southeastern city of Akhaura, an important railway junction connected to Chittagong port, resource-rich Sylhet and Dhaka. An agreement to implement the railway project was signed between India’s former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina during her visit to India in January 2010. The Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON) would lay the new railway tracks on both sides of the border. Of the 15 km rail line, five km of tracks fall in the Indian Territory.

Earlier In a three day visit to the state, the NFR General Manager (Construction) R.K.Gupta inspected the work progress of Agartala-Bangladesh rail link at Nishchintpur BOP Indo-Bangla border area. Commenting on the progress of the Indo-Bangla rail link work he said that soil treatment is required before laying the track as the soil of the area is very soft for the aligned project. However, it is alleged that no work is done regarding the soil test of the area.

India has been keen to establish the Agartala-Akhaura rail link as it would facilitate easier connectivity between West Bengal and northeastern states through Bangladesh. It has offered to construct the railway link.

This cross border rail link between India and Bangladesh to usher new era of development in Tripura as it will strengthen the knot between both the countries.