Dhaka: Khulna to Mongla and Akhaura-Agartala dual gauge railway is going to be inaugurated today (Wednesday). Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will jointly inaugurate the two projects virtually.
They will inaugurate the projects through video conference at 11 am.
Although Mongla is the second largest seaport in Bangladesh, it was not directly connected by rail. The opportunity to transport goods at the fastest time and at the lowest cost is created through the opening of this railway. At the same time, due to the inauguration of the Padma Rail Link Project, the opportunity to transport goods in the capital has been created very easily.
On the other hand, India, Nepal and Bhutan have expressed interest in using Bangladesh’s Mongla port to transport goods through this railway.
Director of this project. Arifuzzaman said, this railway will be inaugurated at 11 o’clock on Wednesday.
However, he could not tell when passenger and goods trains will run. He said that he will be informed when a decision is taken on this issue.
According to railway sources, the first cost of the Khulna-Mongla railway project was estimated at 3 thousand 801 crore 61 lakh taka. The project work was scheduled to start on December 1, 2010 and the project will be completed by December 2013.
But due to lack of progress in the work, the first phase was in December 2014, then the period was extended till June 2018. In total, the fifth phase has been extended till October 2024. And the project cost has increased to 4 thousand 260 crore 88 lakh 59 thousand taka by extending the period of 5 rounds.
Bangladesh Railway is connecting with Seven Sisters
Like the Khulna-Mongla railway, the two Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and India will inaugurate the Akhaura-Agartala railway tomorrow. Through this, the connection is being established with the 7 states of the North-East of India through railways.
Businessmen believe that the scope of trade between the 7 states of North-Eastern India with Bangladesh will widen with the opening of this railway.
Presently the goods exported through Akhaura land port are supplied by road from Agartala to the neighboring states, which will now be done by rail at low cost.
Earlier only Bangladesh had railway connection with West Bengal. At the same time, the revolution is coming to India’s internal rail connectivity by constructing a 12 km railway from Akhaura to Agartala.
If the Akhaura-Agartala railway is opened, the distance between Kolkata and Agartala will decrease by about 1100 km. Initially, cargo trains will run on this railway, but passenger trains will also start running in a few days.
Project Director Abu Zafar Mia said that the Prime Minister of the two countries will connect virtually and officially inaugurate the railway on November 1. If this railway is opened, the trade and commerce of the two countries will expand as the transportation of goods will be easy.
According to the project director Abu Jafar Mia, first cargo and then passenger trains will run between the two countries through this railway.
The project officials said that the construction of this railway started in July 2018 for a period of one and a half years. The length of this railway, built at a cost of about 241 crores, is 12.24 kilometers. Out of this, 6.78 km is part of Bangladesh, while the rest is part of India.
Bangladesh Time: 0952, November 1, 2023
NB/SAH
