Union Minister of Tourism and DoNER G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday inspected the progress of the Agartala-Akhaura new rail link project on-site.
After visiting the project, he first visited the Agartala railway station and inquired about the progress of the proposed rail link project from the concerned officials. During the visit, he was accompanied by Transport Minister Sushant Chowdhury, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhowmik, Chief Engineer (Construction) of North East Frontier Railway PB Pandey and General Manager of Railway Construction Company Ircon Raman Shringla. Besides, officials of various departments of central and state governments were also present.
After visiting the Agartala railway station, Union DoNER Minister visited the Nishchintapur Railway Station. There he met with the stakeholders in a review meeting.
After the meeting, DoNER Minister G Kishan Reddy said that to strengthen the friendly atmosphere between India and Bangladesh, construction of the rail link should be completed quickly. Believing in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s principle ‘Neighbourhood First,’ the concerned should complete this task at a faster pace.
He said that this rail link will play a vital role in the future in improving the overall development of the North Eastern region, easy import and export of goods through Chittagong port, strengthening the foreign trade system, and improving the communication system of the North Eastern region. The Ministry of Donor for the construction of a 5.46 km long railway line on the Indian side and the 6.78 km railway line up to the Gangasagar Railway Station on the Bangladesh side are constructed with the grant of the Ministry of External Affairs. He said that there are some problems related to land in Bangladesh. In this regard, there was a detailed discussion during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India. Union Minister expressed hope that the problem will be resolved soon. He said that the much-desired rail link project would be auspiciously inaugurated by the hands of the Prime Ministers of both countries.
He requested the central and state government ministers to take comprehensive initiatives in this regard so that this work does not face any further obstacles. It should be noted that the distance between Agartala and Kolkata via Dhaka will be 500 km after the completion of this rail link project. Then you can reach Kolkata in about 16 hours.