Work for laying of 15.05 km railway tracks to connect Agartala and Akhaura in neighboring Bangladesh would start from February next, official sources said today.
The decision was taken at the review meeting of the steering committee of Agartala-Akhaurah railway project held in Dhaka on Tuesday last, they said.
Tripura Transport secretary, Kishore Ambuly, who is a member of the committee and attended the meeting, said land acquisition for the project would start in February after the general elections in the neighbouring country and laying of tracks would begin after preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) which is also likely to be completed by that time (February).
Earlier, it was decided that the DPR would be prepared by IRCON, an undertaking of the Indian Railway, but the responsibility was transferred to the NF Railway, Ambuly said.
The Bangladesh delegation was headed by Sunil Chandra Pal, Joint Secretary of Development and Planning and the Indian side by Alok Kumar Sinha, Joint Secretary of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
India has sanctioned Rs 252 crore for laying of the railway tracks. Of the 15.05 km long route, only 5 km fall in the Indian side and the rest is in Bangladesh. The tracks would be laid in meter-gauge on broad gauge format with the option to convert to broad gauge when necessary, sources said.
India is keen to establish the rail link as it would connect West Bengal and Tripura via Bangladesh and reduce the distance between Agartala and Kolkata from 1650 km to 350 km.
The next meeting of the steering committee would be held in Agartala in March next year.
