Akhaura-Agartala rail link
Work remains fixed in bureaucratic tangle
STAFF REPORTER
Despite passage of six years after singing agreement on Akhaurha-Agartala rail connectivity the implementation work is yet to start due to bureaucratic tangles, said sources at the railway ministry in Bangladesh.
The agreement on the rail link was signed between Indias former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina during the latters visit to Delhi in January 2010.
In the meeting on sub regional transport conductivity, held in October, the ministry of railway of Bangladesh informed that the cost of project increased in both countries as implementation work of the project has been delayed.
As per the meeting minutes, the cost of the project has now increased to Tk 480.63 crore. India is keen to set up rail link to establish connectivity between Agartala, the capital of the State of Tripura and Akhaura to reduce travel distance between Agartala and Kolkata. Agartala is 1,650km from Kolkata and 2,637km from New Delhi via West Bengal, whereas the distance between the Tripura capital and Kolkata through Bangladesh is just 350km.
During a visit in Agartala in September 2014, Rail Minister Mazibul Hoq said Akhaurha-Agartala rail connectivity is a very important project and that both the governments are very serious for its implementation. With the help of Indian investment, preliminary works have started to lay 15-km railway tracks to link Tripuras capital Agartala with Bangladeshs (southeastern city) Akhaurha railway station. The project would be operational at the earliest as the two countries are very serious about it, he had said.
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 kms of tracks fall in the Indian side and rest in Bangladesh. Agartala is among the newest stations of the Indian Railways, and came up on the Indias rail map in October 2008.
