AGARTALA, February 1 (TIWN): The Direct Project Report (DPR) of the construction work of the four lane bridge over the River Feni in Tripura that would connect the state's South district with Chittagong division in Bangladesh is now waiting for the clearance from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. “We have our team ready to be sent to Bangladesh site for the field survey but now after the center gives the clearance of the team visit we will make the DPR ready within one or two months”, said PWD Engineer in Chief Sunil Bhowmik.Talking to the reporters here at the civil secretariat the PWD Engineer in Chief Sunil Bhowmik said that the department has listed a name of at least 10 to 12 members who will be sent to the Bangladesh site for the field survey for the construction of the double lane bridge over River Feni. The list of the team has already been sent to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, said Bhowmik.

Adding to that he said that after the center gives a clearance the department here will immediately sent the 10 to 12 members team to the Bangladesh site to conduct soil testing and field survey and other preface works.Later asked about the Direct Project Report (DPR) for the construction work of the four lane bridge over the River Feni in Tripura that would connect the state's South district with Chittagong division in Bangladesh, Mr. Bhowmik said that since after the clearance of the visit of the team from the center the DPR will be made ready within one or two months. Bhowmik added that the Indian side has completed the field survey, soil testing, and alignment along with other preliminary works for the construction of the proposed four lane bridge over the River Feni at the South District.

Mr. Bhowmik further said that at least three alternative bridge designs has also been made.

However, “we are now awaiting for the formal permission of the nodal agency”, said Bhowmik.  

It is mentionable here that The decision to construct the bridge with four-lane facilities was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS).The bridge will be 150 metres long and will be constructed at a cost of Rs 73 crore. Tripura has been lobbying for the bridge since 2005.

The Feni bridge is expected to draw a significant segment of the proposed economic corridor through India, Bangladeshi, China and Myanmar. The final decision was reported to have kept provisions for construction of a 15 Mt wide four-lane bridge with four-lane approach roads on both sides, 1.5 Mt wide footpath on both sides for smooth traffic movement including other state-of-art facilities.