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Journalism of Courage
Over 88 per cent of work on the Agartala-Akhaura international railway connectivity project is over and the remaining work is expected to be finished in the next five-six months, Tripura Transport minister Sushanta Chowdhury said in Agartala Wednesday.
The 15-kilometre-long railway line would link Bangladesh’s Akhaura through an international immigration station at Nischintapur along the India-Bangladesh border. With the completion of the project, the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka would reduce from 31 hours to 10 hours.
The project was supposed to be over in 2020 but was delayed following land acquisition issues and the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a visit to the Pushpabanta Palace, which is being converted into a museum, Chowdhury said he recently visited Charipara in West Tripura to oversee the railway project.
“The work is going on in two phases – the one from Badharghat to Nischintapur on the Indian side will have broad gauge tracks, whereas there will be metre gauge tracks on the Bangladesh side…” he said.
As per the agreement between India and Bangladesh, two companies are executing the work along the stretch – IRCON, a public sector enterprise under the Indian Railways, on the Indian side, and Texmaco Rail and Engineering Limited on the Bangladesh side.
“The dreams of people from this state to start business relations with Bangladesh will be bolstered after the completion of this project. Tripura will reach a significant position in terms of trade and commerce and job opportunities will be created for unemployed youths along with creating a new route for public and goods transport,” he said.
Akhaura used to be the railway link for Agartala before Independence. In 2013, India and Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to revive the railway link.
In addition to the Agartala-Akhaura railway line, Tripura has a few more international connectivity projects linking it with Bangladesh –such as the Indo-Bangla Maitri Bridge in South Tripura, and the inland waterways transport project in the Sepahijala district.
A second Integrated Check Post (ICP) with Bangladesh is being set up at Sabroom in Tripura. After all the projects are commissioned, Tripura is expected to gain access to the Chittagong and Mongla ports of Bangladesh, opening up new avenues for trade and commerce.
The tourism minister also said that retrofitting and renovation work was being undertaken at the Pushpabanta Palace as part of the state government’s plan to set up a museum of international standard to attract domestic and international tourists.
“We want to put Tripura on the global tourism map. Work for this project started with an estimated expenditure of Rs 40 crore last October…” the minister said.
He said the new ‘digital’ museum would have a separate gallery dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore. “Apart from it, Tripura’s cultural heritage, its lost history, and items from its royal past will be displayed at the museum,” the minister added.
“Everything will be controlled here digitally. The retrofitting work has been started. We hope to set up the museum in two years,” he said.
