The dredging work on the Gomati River to connect Tripura’s Sonamura with Daudkandi in Bangladesh has been started, an MLA said on Thursday.
The dredging works under the ambitious development of inland water transport infrastructure on the Gomati River are expected to be completed in one year.
The estimated cost of 54 km dredging work from Maharani in Gomati district to Sonamura in Sepahijala district is Rs 19.50 crore, he said. “The much-awaited dredging works on the Gomati river has got underway from Maharani and it will go up to Sonamura to connect with Daudkandi (Bangladesh). The dredging works are expected to get completed by one year”, Abhishek Debroy, the MLA of Matabari Assembly constituency said over the phone.
He said out of eight jetties, seven jetties have already been constructed along the Gomati River from Maharani to Sonamura. Initially, the expenditure has been pegged at Rs 19.50 crore, he said.
Debroy said the government plans to connect the inland waterway from Maharani to Daudkandi (Bangladesh) via Sonamura (Tripura) in order to provide global water connectivity to the northeastern state. The Sonamura-Daudkandi-Sonamura has been declared as additional ports of call for vessels plying on Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) routes in 2020.
“If the waterway is connected to Daudkandi (Bangladesh) then vessels can operate from Sonamura to Kolkata port through Daudkandi in Bangladesh. It will be a game changer for the state’s connectivity”, he said.
The BJP MLA said the opposition parties had ridiculed the BJP’s promise of creating an inland waterway from Tripura to Kolkata via Bangladesh. “The commencement of dredging work on the river Gomati is the first step to fulfil yet another strategic promise”, he said.
