STATE : For the state, this is a momentous day. The history of the state will bear witness to the monumental event that was the creation of the rail connection between India and Bangladesh via Nishchintapur and the Gangasagar rail station. With this rail link, Tripura is going to emerge as a gateway in the field of transport and tourism, stated Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha at a press meeting after the virtual inauguration of the Akhaura – Agartala rail link.
The Chief Minister said that with the opening of this rail link, the distance between Agartala and Kolkata will be reduced from 1600 km to 500 km.
Speaking on the Akhaura – Agartala rail link, he further said that this rail link spreads over 12.24 km of which 5.46 km falls in Tripura on the Indian side and 6.76 km is the length on the Bangladesh side.
In July 2016, this project was approved with an allocation of Rs. 972.52 crore. Out of this, Rs. 580 crore was sanctioned for the Indian side, and Rs. 392.52 crore was sanctioned for the Bangladesh side.
The chief minister said at the press conference that the DONER ministry is covering the costs for the side work in India while the Ministry of External Affairs is covering the costs for the side work in Bangladesh as ‘aid to Bangladesh.’
IRCON has been entrusted with the Indian side work, while TEXMACO is doing the same on the Bangladesh side. CM added that at a later date, the project cost has been increased in two phases.
An amount of Rs. 862.58 crore has been sanctioned for the Indian side work. At present, the project cost stands at Rs. 1255.10 crore. For the implementation of the project, 86.846 acres of land have been handed over to IRCON.
In terms of overall connectivity, the Northeast region, including Tripura, is making rapid progress that was not possible in the last seven decades of the post-independence era. Immense improvement has been witnessed in the connectivity sector with the proper implementation of the HIRA model announced by the Prime Minister.
Referring to the development of railways in the state, the Chief Minister said that PM Modi has launched the Amrit Bharat Scheme for the re-development of 508 rail stations across the country.
Under the scheme, Rs. 5100 crore will be spent on 91 rail stations in the NF Railway zone. This scheme will cover the railway stations at Dharmanagar, Kumarghat, and Udaipur. For their development and modernisation Rs. 96.60 crore will be spent. Additionally, Agartala railway station will be upgraded to a world-class railway station after an estimated expense of Rs. 235.45 crore.
The Chief Minister said, at present 19 trains are running in the state. Among them, 13 are Express trains, five are DEMU trains, and one is the local train (Agartala-Dharmanagar).
The Chief Minister also referred to the inauguration of the Agartala-Mumbai Lokamanya Tilak-Kamakhya Express weekly train and the installation of an escalator at Agartala rail station.
Chief Secretary J.K. Sinha, Secretary Dr. P.K. Chakraborty, and Secretary of the Transport Department U.K. Chakma were also present at the press meeting.