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A decade after India and Bangladesh signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up the first Indo-Bangla international railway connectivity in NE India in 2013, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday jointly inaugurated the project from New Delhi and Dhaka respectively. Both Modi and Hasina were present at the event virtually.
In his inaugural speech, Modi said his government signed the Indo-Bangla land boundary agreement that had been pending for decades and resolved the maritime boundary issue. He stressed on infrastructure development and connectivity between the two countries. Calling India “Bangladesh’s biggest development partner”, he said while bilateral ties between the two nations strengthened, it also boosted the latter’s energy sector alongwith regional connectivity.
Joining the event virtually from Agartala, Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha said the project was crucial for connectivity in the NE region and it would make Tripura the gateway for tourism.
“Tripura is going to be the gateway for tourism and transport between India and Bangladesh. With the establishment of the Agartala-Akhaura railway project, the distance between Agartala and Kolkata will effectively reduce from 1,600 km to 500 km now,” he said.
Detailing connectivity development in the NE region under the BJP, Saha said 508 railway stations were being redeveloped in the country under the Amrit Bharat Station scheme. He said 91 of these were being redeveloped in NE India.
“Foundation stones were laid for redeveloping these 91 stations for Rs 5,100 crore. In Tripura, Dharmanagar, Udaipur and Kumarghat, railway stations are being redeveloped under this scheme with an investment of Rs 96.6 crore. Agartala Railway Station is being developed under World Class Station Scheme with Rs 235.45 crore,” Saha said.
Thanking Modi, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Sheikh Hasina for the Indo-Bangla railway connectivity, the CM said the project would strengthen friendship between the two nations.
Bilateral rail connectivity
Of the 12.24 km Agartala-Akhaura railway line, Tripura has got 5.46 km on the Indian side and 6.78 km lies in Akhaura upazila of Bangladesh’s Bahmanbaria district. The project, which had its MoU signed in 2013, started with Rs 972.52 crore in 2016 including Rs 580 crore sanctioned for work on the Indian side and Rs 392.52 crore sanctioned for the Bangladesh side. However, the fund was later revised twice due to cost escalation and other ancillary expenses and the final project cost is estimated at Rs 1,255.1 crore with Rs 862.58 crore allocated for works on the Indian side alone.
Tripura shares an 856 km-long international border with Bangladesh – the second longest border between these two countries of any Indian state after West Bengal.
The project is funded by the Government of India. The Ministry for Development of North East Region (DoNER) funded the work on the Indian side while Ministry of External Affairs funded the expense for Bangladesh’s side. Indian Railway Construction International Limited, a public sector undertaking of the Indian Railways, did the work on the Indian side and Texmaco implemented the work on the Bangladesh side. 86.85 acres was acquired for the project on the Indian side and handed over to IRCON.
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The inauguration comes 48 hours after a trial for a goods train was conducted along the route on Monday. After the trial run, Liafat Ali Majumder, a senior engineer of Bangladesh Railways, said that passenger trains will likely begin later based on discussions between governments of both countries.
The trial run gave a green signal to connectivity between Gangasagar – Bangladesh’s last railway station before India on this route – and Nischintapur, the last Indian railway station before the border. After the trial run for passenger services are completed, full-fledged train services between Agartala-Akhaura and Agartala-Chittagong are expected to be commenced.
On a similar note, a senior official from the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) informed The Indian Express that a trail for passenger trains might be done soon.
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