Another rail link with India gets nod
India has given the go-ahead for the construction of an 18-km-long railway line connecting Agartala with Akhaura in Bangladesh, said a top railway official yesterday.
The Indian railway is also conducting a survey to extend the railway line up to Sabroom, the southern border town of Tripura, for connectivity with the Chittagong Port.
B N Rajsekhar, additional member of the Indian Railway Board, said in Agartala yesterday that the project, second after the Kolkata-Dhaka rail line, would be completed at a cost of Rs 267 crore in two and a half years.
A six-member delegation led by Rajsekhar yesterday inspected the alignment of the railway line and gave the final nod on it.
Rajsekhar said the project was held up for a long time and got a fresh lease of life after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited New Delhi last year.
Two months ago, the Planning Commission asked the railway board to finalise the alignment of the rail track, he said.
The Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region would bear the cost of constructing the Indian part of the rail link while the foreign ministry of Bangladesh would finance the construction on its side, Rajsekhar said.
A separate station would be built at Nischintapur, a border village, about 10km from Agartala, where all facilities like custom clearance of goods and visa clearance of passengers would be put in place.
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