Agartala, September 29, 2014: As uncertainty looms large over execution of the Indo-Bangla rail project, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has sought intervention of Bangladesh Railway Minister Md Mujibul Haque Mujib to accelerate pace of the Agartala-Akhaura rail project through Tripura frontiers.
During a courtesy visit to the Chief Minister here on Friday, Bangladesh Railways Minister assured that his government was taking all necessary steps to complete the project at the earliest.
He visited the Agartala railway station at Badharghat as a part of his three-day visit to the State. Mujib further said that Bangladesh acknowledged the great history of cooperation and friendship during the 1971 Liberation War with India.
“People here are so close to Bangladesh in language, culture, music and lifestyle. We shall never forget the help we got from Tripura and of course India in the early days of the birth of our nation. I am sure the Bangladesh Government will take all necessary steps to ensure that the Agartala-Akhaura rail line get completed within the stipulated time”, he said.
Sources said the proposed Agartala-Akhaura rail project has run into severe fund constraint since Union Railway Ministry has not allocated any fund to undertake the dream rail project in 2014-15 FY. The DoNER, which is supposed to fund the 15 km rail link, is not in a position to fund the project gathering dust.
However, the Bangla Minister said that the Bangladesh Government had taken a set of steps to complete the 15 km Indo-Bangla rail project via Nischintapur.
He said that the rail link is expected to boost trade between the two countries, more so because Bangladesh would be a prospective trade corridor to export the bamboo-based products that are regularly exported to other countries through long roadways via Mumbai and Kolkata.
Source: Assam Tribune
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