BanglaBhoot
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The Daily Star July 3, 2010
India has taken up several mega projects to develop its rail and road infrastructure for access to Chittagong Port and transit and transhipment through Bangladesh to remotest northeastern region.
Although India has begun its infrastructure building, Bangladesh is still waiting for Indian financial support to develop roads and railways inside its territory to facilitate the connectivity.
Bangladesh has agreed to have land, air and waterways connectivity with South Asian countries, especially to allow India, Nepal and Bhutan to use the Chittagong and Mongla ports.
Similarly, India has agreed that RohanpurSingabad broad gauge railway link would be available to Bangladesh for transit to Nepal. Bangladesh has already expressed its will to convert Radhikapur-Birol railway into broad gauge and requested for railway transit link to Bhutan as well.
The shipping ministry sources say the government is upgrading the Chittagong port so that it can take extra load and handle cargos from the neighbours. The authorities are hopeful about completion of the upgradation within two years.
According to reports available with the Bangladesh government, the Indian Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure has recently approved implementation of four-lane 78-kilometre Krishnanagar-Baharampore road in West Bengal at a cost of Rs 702 crore.
This is an important highway for northsouth road link in the State of West Bengal as it passes through the state longitudinally and connects the northeastern states and neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, according to a recent statement of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highway of India.
The Indian government has also decided to construct a bridge over the Feni river in south Tripura to get access to the Chittagong port and upgrade the connecting two-lane national highway into a four-lane one.
The proposed bridge would connect Sabroom town with Ramgarh in southeastern Bangladesh. For this, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has approved a proposal of the state government for conversion of the Agartala-Sabroom national highway into four-lane one.
India will also invest Rs 16.66 billion to develop highways in Tripura and Mizoram to improve connectivity of the landlocked northeastern states with Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) of India has also given clearance for four lanes of the National Highway from Shillong up to Tripura's southern most border town of Sabroom.
India will also extend its railway network to two more places along the India-Bangladesh border by 2014 to improve connectivity between the two countries.
The two border points are Sabroom and Akhaurah in western Tripura, just six kilometres from the Agartala railway station. Bangladesh operates train services on its side up to Akhaurah.
Train services resumed in April 2008 between Kolkata and Dhaka. The service was suspended after the 1965 war between India and Pakistan when Bangladesh was Pakistan's eastern wing.
It is expected that by 2014, the ongoing work of railway connection up to bordering town Sabroom would be completed.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has recently said the railway is also extending tracks up to Sabroom, making it very easy for connectivity with the Chittagong port.
"After development of the national highways and extension of railway tracks, Tripura and the entire northeast would be linked with Southeast Asia," Sarkar said.
According to the joint communiqué issued in New Delhi on January 12 during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit, Bangladesh is supposed to get financial support from India for its infrastructure development, said Communications Secretary Mozammel Haq.
He said this when asked about Bangladesh's preparations to build its infrastructure for connectivity with India.
"Once we get the assistance, we will start development of our rail, road and shipping infrastructure," he added.
Finance ministry sources say officials of both the countries are working to finalise the modality of Indian line of credit of $1 billion to Bangladesh for a range of infrastructure projects, including setting up or upgrading railways.
India has taken up several mega projects to develop its rail and road infrastructure for access to Chittagong Port and transit and transhipment through Bangladesh to remotest northeastern region.
Although India has begun its infrastructure building, Bangladesh is still waiting for Indian financial support to develop roads and railways inside its territory to facilitate the connectivity.
Bangladesh has agreed to have land, air and waterways connectivity with South Asian countries, especially to allow India, Nepal and Bhutan to use the Chittagong and Mongla ports.
Similarly, India has agreed that RohanpurSingabad broad gauge railway link would be available to Bangladesh for transit to Nepal. Bangladesh has already expressed its will to convert Radhikapur-Birol railway into broad gauge and requested for railway transit link to Bhutan as well.
The shipping ministry sources say the government is upgrading the Chittagong port so that it can take extra load and handle cargos from the neighbours. The authorities are hopeful about completion of the upgradation within two years.
According to reports available with the Bangladesh government, the Indian Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure has recently approved implementation of four-lane 78-kilometre Krishnanagar-Baharampore road in West Bengal at a cost of Rs 702 crore.
This is an important highway for northsouth road link in the State of West Bengal as it passes through the state longitudinally and connects the northeastern states and neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, according to a recent statement of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highway of India.
The Indian government has also decided to construct a bridge over the Feni river in south Tripura to get access to the Chittagong port and upgrade the connecting two-lane national highway into a four-lane one.
The proposed bridge would connect Sabroom town with Ramgarh in southeastern Bangladesh. For this, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has approved a proposal of the state government for conversion of the Agartala-Sabroom national highway into four-lane one.
India will also invest Rs 16.66 billion to develop highways in Tripura and Mizoram to improve connectivity of the landlocked northeastern states with Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) of India has also given clearance for four lanes of the National Highway from Shillong up to Tripura's southern most border town of Sabroom.
India will also extend its railway network to two more places along the India-Bangladesh border by 2014 to improve connectivity between the two countries.
The two border points are Sabroom and Akhaurah in western Tripura, just six kilometres from the Agartala railway station. Bangladesh operates train services on its side up to Akhaurah.
Train services resumed in April 2008 between Kolkata and Dhaka. The service was suspended after the 1965 war between India and Pakistan when Bangladesh was Pakistan's eastern wing.
It is expected that by 2014, the ongoing work of railway connection up to bordering town Sabroom would be completed.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has recently said the railway is also extending tracks up to Sabroom, making it very easy for connectivity with the Chittagong port.
"After development of the national highways and extension of railway tracks, Tripura and the entire northeast would be linked with Southeast Asia," Sarkar said.
According to the joint communiqué issued in New Delhi on January 12 during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit, Bangladesh is supposed to get financial support from India for its infrastructure development, said Communications Secretary Mozammel Haq.
He said this when asked about Bangladesh's preparations to build its infrastructure for connectivity with India.
"Once we get the assistance, we will start development of our rail, road and shipping infrastructure," he added.
Finance ministry sources say officials of both the countries are working to finalise the modality of Indian line of credit of $1 billion to Bangladesh for a range of infrastructure projects, including setting up or upgrading railways.
