AGARTALA, May 11 (TIWN): Even after one year of soil testing for construction of 150 – metre – long bridges over Feni river in southern Tripura, to get access to the Chittagong international sea port in Bangladesh there is no progress in work. PWD was assigned the task to construct the bridge.

The delay in work to build the important bridge has cast shadow in the entire southern Tripura. A wave of joy gripped the area  after  Bangladesh government approved  to build the all-important bridge would connect Sabroom town of southern Tripura with Ramgarh town of southeastern Bangladesh.Besides construction of the bridge, various others tourism- related amenities and infrastructure would also be constructed in and around the area, 135 km south of Tripura capital Agartala,

Agartala is 1,650 km from Kolkata and 2,637 km from New Delhi via Guwahati, whereas the distance between the Tripura capital and Kolkata via Bangladesh is about 350 km.The northeastern states are surrounded by Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and China and the only land route access to these states from within India is through Assam. But this route passes through hilly terrain with steep roads and multiple hairpin bends.

If Dhaka provides transit facilities to India and  then the Chittagong international port and other ports in Bangladesh, commodities and machinery can be transported to the northeast from various parts of India and abroad, saving huge time and money.The transit between northeast India and rest of the country and abroad via Bangladesh is likely to become a reality in near future. Tripura is also well-positioned to become the ‘gateway to northeast India, southeast Asia and Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)