Incumbent Tripura Chief Minster Dr Manik Saha and his predecessor Mr Biplab Deb, have pleaded strongly with various agencies in Delhi connected with proposed connectivity projects, to complete the Agartala/Akhaura rail linkage in time. The new line , despite its relative short length, is of critical importance for regional economic development and has a special place in BIMSTEC plans to rev up regional exports to Southeast Asia.

To add to the state’s frustrations, the long awaited Maitri bridge at Sabroom, an important part of the Indo-Bangla connectivity, has been ready for commissioning , but there has been no traffic movement as yet. Some time ago, Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Mr, Mustafizzur Rahman and officials of Indian land port Authority visited Sabroom to review progress. Officials said services could begin around August this year.

The slow pace of work is all the more surprising because in terms of their cost, most Tripura-Northeast related projects do not entail large expenditure, unlike several prestigious railway schemes currently being implemented in various parts of India.

The much publicized Agartala-Akhaura railway link, seeking to connect India and Bangladesh, is a case in point. Work on the 15 kilometres long line, of which 5.16 kms lie in Tripura, is almost complete on the Indian side. Somehow, progress has been much slower on the Bangladesh side. Initially, the overall cost was affixed at around Rs 972 crore. DONER, the Indian development authority for the NE region, is handling the costs for the Indian part, where India’s MEA is financing construction in Bangladesh.

Recently, the railway authorities have made a special allocation for the project. This suggests an ad hoc approach towards a relatively simple connectivity exercise that has a major development potential in terms of regional trade, import and exports. The delay has been an irritant for trade and business, as well as official circles, both in Bangladesh and Tripura.

Railway officials connected with the work have assured Tripura leaders about the priority status of the project. Yet the pace of construction and the progress made so far in the laying of only 15 kms of new tracts belie their claims. Not surprisingly, the authorities have missed several official deadlines they announced themselves. By way of an explanation, they said that doubling of some existing lines, making arrangements for the latest type of equipment for signalling, crossing and other work took some time.

The latest example of postponing the deadline occurred in August 2022: GOI authorities had announced that the project would be completed by December last year, — in vain as it turned out.

Opposition party leaders in Tripura alleged that this was yet another example of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) making tall promises to common people without necessarily fulfilling them. The NE region as a whole had always been neglected historically by successive administrations ruling from Delhi, whether under the leadership of the late Prime Minister Nehru or by current BJP leaders, they complain. The indifference of the centre extended to infrastructural development as well.

Worse, within the NE again, Tripura had fared the worst, being the furthest away from the mainland in terms of physical distance from Delhi, Kolkata or other major population centres. The regionally strategic location of Agartala town, so very close to a major foreign capital like the bustling Dhaka city, the new ports of Mongla and Chalna, fast developing industrial sector of Bangladesh, had been blissfully ignored by Indian policymakers over the decades !

Ruling BJP leaders strongly counter such complaints. They stress that only during the tenure of the NDA Government, a second rail linkage between Tripura and Bangladesh, connecting Belonia in India to a suitable location in Bangladesh, has been approved in principle. This second project if things run according to plan, would become operative in addition to the connection to Akhaura from Agartala. So much for allegations of ignoring the Northeast and Tripura.

Therefore, far from ignoring the developmental potential of Tripura, it was the BJP that had kept the economic interests of the NE region as a whole and of Tripura in particular, in mind, unlike all previous governments.

‘It is common knowledge that no other party has carried out so many major infra-related road and rail projects in the generally under-served NE region, except the BJP’ say state BJP leaders. In terms of road/highways development, the NDA Government had spent over Rs 100,000 crore since 2014, while for the development of Railways, a sum of Rs 70,000 crore had been allocated to date.

The economic potential of the proposed Agartala/Akhaura new line has been extensively analysed by authorities in India and Bangladesh. Media coverage has been extensive.. Once services begin, travel time taken to cover the distance between Agartala and Kolkata would be reduced from about 31 hours at present to around 6/10 hours only ! Instead of covering around 1500 kilometres of territory between the two state capitals as at present, the linkage with Akhaura in Bangladesh and subsequent movement through Bangladesh territory, would reduce the distance to only 500 Kms or so.

While according to present estimates, rail services between Tripura and Bangladesh, should be functional from around August/September this year, no one is willing to set a form date as yet. (IPA Service)