In a significant development on Tripura’s air connectivity front, the Union Ministry of Finance has recently declared the Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport at Agartala as a custom check post, and a relevant government notification has been released accordingly. Reports suggest that the Tripura government had earlier submitted a detailed proposal to the union government to designate the MBB Airport as an international airport.
This is a major step towards the opening of the Agartala-Dhaka and Agartala-Chittagong air links. Once the MBB Airport is designated as an immigration check post, the two air services will start. The launching of the two international air routes, for which bilateral negotiations are on, will boost trade, tourism and people-to-people contacts between North East and Bangladesh.
The Government of India (GoI) has initiated several railway infrastructure development projects in the North Eastern region under its “Act East” policy to expand connectivity between India and neighbouring countries including Bangladesh. The Indian Railways (IR) is focusing on the development of peripheral Tripura’s rail connectivity. Some of the key rail stations of Tripura are set to undergo redevelopment as part of the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, and plans are in place to upgrade the Agartala railway station to international standards.
In its efforts to boost connectivity, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has decided to launch more train services between Agartala and other parts of the country. Tripura is now connected with 19 trains including 13 express trains. Besides, the IR has undertaken up gradation of 508 railway stations across the country, of which three are in Tripura.
The plan is underway to build double-line from Dharmanagar in northern Tripura to Sabroom to further boost connectivity. Reports say on June 4, 2020, the Tripura government sent a proposal to the union government’s “North East Region Vision 2035” to connect the existing single-line to double-line tracks to upgrade the state’s railway connectivity as well as improve passenger services.
Tripura figured in the country’s broad-gauge railway map for the first time in July 2016. As per reports, the NFR is set to complete electrification of tracks from Badarpur in Assam’s Barak Valley to Sabroom by 2024. In its bids to improve rail freight service, the Tripura government has demanded construction of railway goods yards at Agartala, Sekerkota in West district, and Bishalgarh and Bisramganja in Sepahijala district.
Meanwhile, preliminary engineering-cum-traffic survey works of three new railway projects, namely, 41.75 km Dharmanagar-Pancharathal-Kailasahar, Belonia-Feni (Bangladesh) and another route connecting Dharmanagar with Belonia via Kailasahar, Dholai, Khowai and certain parts of West Tripura district covering a distance of 16.62 km, have been completed.
Tripura’s railway connectivity has received another major boost with the operationalisation of the 114 km-long Agartala-Sabroom route. The Rs 3,407 crore project for constructing new railway line from Agartala to Sabroom started in the fiscal year (FY) 2007-08, and the entire work was divided into four parts. The 43 km Agartala-Udaipur segment, the first part of the project, was completed in 2017. Laying of 9 km track between Udaipur and Garjee, the second component of the project, was completed in 2018. Subsequently, work on the 22 km railway line from Garjee to Belonia, the third portion of the project, was completed in February 2019.
The 39 km railway line from Belonia to Sabroom, the last part of the rail route, has also been made operational. The entire project was completed before the December 2019 deadline. Currently, a passenger train is operating on the Agartala-Sabroom route. Recent reports indicate that an additional passenger train will soon be introduced on this section. The Agartala-Sabroom rail route was first proposed in the FY 2007-08 Union Rail Budget. The railway project was scheduled to be completed by March 2017, but it suffered delay due to the shortage of funds leading to cost escalation and its deadline had to be rescheduled. The Agartala-Sabroom rail route was declared as National Project.
To add further impetus to connectivity, a second cross-border rail route, linking Tripura’s border town Belonia with Feni in Bangladesh, has been approved by the GoI. The Assam Bengal Railway commissioned the Belonia-Feni rail route in 1927 to establish connectivity with Assam. Initially, freight trains ran on this line but the operation was closed after 1947. The issue of the Belonia-Feni cross-border rail link first figured in the talks between India and Bangladesh in 2010. Both the sides also discussed the matter later. Under a bilateral agreement, the GoI will bear all the expenses for the renovation of this rail link.
According to recent reports, the work of the detailed project report (DPR) for the Belonia-Feni rail route is under process. Of the 30 km distance of this rail link, 2.92 km will be on the Indian side and around 27 km in Bangladesh territory. After the submission of the DPR, the NFR will initiate the reconstruction of the rail route. The GoI has attached priority to this rail link and requested the Bangladesh government to convert Feni railway line from metre-gauge to broad-gauge as India uses broad-gauge rail track. The Bangladesh Railway has undertaken survey of its part of the cross-border rail link and it is reportedly progressing well.
Once the Belonia-Feni rail route is made operational, the North Eastern states of Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya will be connected to Bangladesh’s largest seaport Chittagong providing much needed transit facilities to this land-locked region of India. Belonia sub-division of South Tripura district could emerge as a key transit point since plans are underway to connect this remote area to Myanmar’s Sittwe Port via Bangladesh’s Feni by railway.
The NFR officials’ inspection of Belonia railway station as well as Muhurighat Integrated Check Post (ICP) on February 1 and 2, 2020, was an effort in that direction. According to the NFR, the restoration of the rail connectivity between Belonia and Feni will provide Tripura access to Sittwe Port facilitating cargo transportation in North East and reduction of freight charges. The distance between Agartala and Belonia is 68 km.
The improvement of connectivity will be a boon for Tripura, which is virtually Bangladesh-locked due its peculiar geographical setting. The state shares 856 km-long border with Bangladesh which accounts for 85% of its boundary. The GoI is making concerted efforts to expand Tripura’s transport connectivity and streamline border infrastructure for the state’s all round development. Following the up gradation of Tripura’s Land Custom Stations (LCSs) and ICPs, the state’s trade volume with Bangladesh increased by 158% in the last three years.
Reports say Tripura’s trade with Bangladesh through six LCSs and ICPs used to be Rs390.68 crore, the figure has now increased to Rs1, 008.4 crore. Experts say after further development of cross-border connectivity, Tripura will be able to export products Rs1, 200 crore and import goods worth Rs 4,200 crore in the next five years.
Tripura is on its way to become a logistics and transit hub after the establishment of connectivity with Bangladesh’s Chittagong seaport. As per recent reports, almost three years after its inauguration, the India-Bangladesh Friendship Bridge (Maitree Setu) over the Feni river in Sabroom is set to be operational soon. The ongoing work of Sabroom ICP and other development activities to facilitate trade and commerce using the bridge is near completion. The bridge has not been made operational due the absence of land ICP and poor road connectivity on the Bangladesh side.
