Tripura MP asks for customs station at Raishyabari

A Tripura Lok Sabha MP wants the Indian authorities to establish a new land custom station at Raishyabari along the Indo-Bangla border to make traditional Dumboor Mela accessible to Bangladeshi visitors.

Dumboor Mela is organised with support from the state government on Tirthamukh, the confluence of River Raima and Saima, and the Dumbur Lake, where thousands of devotees and mystics gather to take a holy dip in the waters of Lake Dumboor, reports Hindustan Times yesterday.

The proposal is made against the backdrop that works on three major Indo-Bangla connectivity projects -- the Agartala-Akhaura passenger railway project, Feni bridge, and a new Integrated Check Post at Sabroom -- underway.

In his letter to the Union Industries Minister Piyush Goyal, MP Rebati Tripura said Chittagong Port is located in Bangladesh at close proximity to the international border and areas of Tripura's Dhalai district.

He has reasoned that the land customs station would grant access to people in Bangladesh to visit the traditional Dumboor Mela, organised on Makar Sankranti -- considered an auspicious event in the Hindu calendar.

The fair attracts lakhs of tourists from around the regions and if Land Custom Station (LCS) is established in Raishyabatri, Dumboor fair will get international flair and would be immensely beneficiary from a commercial perspective and also strengthen economic aspects of the state, the parliamentarian explained.