Proposals have been mooted to set up rail link connecting South Tripura with Bangladesh. Already works for Agartala- Akhaura rail links are going on and if a rail link is set up in South Tripura, it would be a boon for people of both the countries.
To this end, Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Muhhammad Imran on Wednesday held discussions with Belonia MLA Arun Chandra Bhowmik to explore the chances of reviving the railway link till Feni-Belonia station located at the Bangladesh side.
Sources said, “the present Belonia station located inside the Indian territory is just 2.5 kilometres away from Feni-Belonia railway station that is located at the other side of the fencing. Now, the MLA has tried to convince him to link both these stations so that trans-border activities can be enhanced through Belonia also”.
The Bangladesh High Commissioner was also of the same opinion and assured to resolve all the remaining issues including disputed territory of Muhurighat.
A memorandum was also placed before him by Belonia municipal council. As per the demand draft, the council members wanted to fish imports through Belonia land custom station, setting up of a border haat in the disputed territory of Muhurighat and railway link. Addressing the media on the sidelines of his visit, he said, “the bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh are strong and friendly. The issues that are existing here will be surely resolved through diplomatic talks”.
Later in the evening, he went to Sabroom and inspected the under progress work of “Maitri Setu” that will set up a roadway link between Tripura and Chittagong port of Bangladesh. He walked through the bridge and entered the Bangladesh side to assess the overall condition of the bridge.
“The Indian government is looking after the finances for the bridge. Now, the most important matter is to speedy completion of the project so that both regions can fetch benefits”, he told reports after his visit.
He had also paid a visit to Sonamura, the subdivision that shares the longest stretch of unfenced borders with Bangladesh and took stock of the situation. He visited the Srimantapur land custom station and interacted with the local officials.
On being asked on the unfenced stretch, he said, “this is a matter of governments of both the countries”.
However, during visits to the strategic bordering locations of the state, Imran personally inspected each and every spot and talked to the local level officers of both the sides to know about the challenges and advantages. Imran had assured that all the problems would be conveyed to the concerned authorities of Bangladesh as to ensure proper steps.
