Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina recently inaugurated a rail link connecting North-East India with Bangladesh.

The Agartala-Akhaura Project will cut down the travel time between Agartala and Kolkata from 31 hours to 10 hours.

It is expected to boost tourism, trade, and inter-connectedness along with people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

What is the Project?

In the 12.24 km Agartala-Akhaura Railway Line, 5.46 kilometers lie on the Indian Side in Tripura and 6.78km in the Akhaura district of Bangladesh.

The train will start from Agartala and move to Nischintapur on the India-Bangladesh border, where the immigration checks will be done. The first station on the Bangladesh side will be Gangasagar.

It's basically a freight rail. The Senior Engineer of Bangladesh Railways said that the trial was successful but passenger trains are more likely to start on the basis of bilateral discussion.

After the trial run for passenger services is completed, full-fledged train services between Agartala-Akhaura and Agartala-Chittagong are expected to begin. The project is expected to cover both Kolkata and Dhaka respectively.

Who is funding the project?

• The Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) funded the work on the Indian side and the Ministry of External Affairs did it for Bangladesh as an aid to the country.
• The Indian Railway Construction International Limited (IRCON), a Public Sector Undertaking under the Indian Railways.
• Texmaco did the work for the Bangladesh side. It's a private Indian firm.
• Land of 86.85 acres was acquired for the project on the Indian side and handed over to IRCON.
• The project got delayed due to the pandemic. It underwent three extensions in deadlines. It's budget was revised regularly.

Significance:

• Tripura has great prospects due to this connectivity link due to its landlocked status. It is being said that this day will be regarded in golden letters in the Indo-Bangla relationship.
• An emotional aspect will also be protected here. As during the 1971 war and subsequent creation of Bangladesh, Tripura was a state which sheltered some 14 lakh East Pakistani refugees.
• People-to-people ties will immensely develop as a success of this project.

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Reference:

• pib.gov.in/PressRelease
• indianexpress.com
• m.thewire.in