Daudkandi to Tripura inland waterway route gets terminal, jetty

A new inland waterway terminal and a permanent jetty were inaugurated in Tripura's Srimantapuron Tuesday, which is expected to strengthen trade and economic relations between India and Bangladesh.

The development came nearly four years after the Indo-Bangla inland waterway protocol route between Sonamura of Tripura and Daudkandi of Bangladesh was first started, reported The Indian Express yesterday.

In July 2020, Tripura readied a floating jetty on the Gomati river in Sonamura, located 60km from Agartala, as part of the Indo-Bangla inland waterways connectivity project.

The jetty was included in the list of routes as part of an Indo-Bangladesh protocol signed between the India's high commissioner to Bangladesh, Riva Ganguly Das, and Bangladesh's shipping secretary, Md Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury, in Dhaka in May 2020.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, who virtually inaugurated the new infrastructure, said: "Import and export of commodities between both countries through waterways will be easier. Besides, the tourist footfall will also increase and also enhance scope of employment."

Small boats and ferries capable of carrying 50 tonnes of goods were scheduled to start moving through this route to Bangladesh soon.

The authorities are trying to further boost the navigability of the rain-fed river, including through plans to dredge the Gomati riverbed to make way for small ships and boats from Sonamura to Bangladesh's Ashuganj river port, which is only 60km away, during the winters.

India's Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had emphasised connecting the northeast of India with different states and neighbouring countries through roadways, waterways, railways and airways.

"Currently, we have six highways and a few more will come up. We have been connected with different places of the country through railways. We had never thought that the Rajdhani Express would run here. We had never dreamt of waterways connectivity to Bangladesh," he said.

Sarbananda Sonowal, union minister for ports, shipping and waterways, who joined the inauguration virtually, unveiled different projects worth Rs 308 crore, including upgraded terminals at Karimganj and Badarpur, a passenger-cargo terminal at Bogibeel near Dibrugarh in Assam and the inland water transport terminal at Sonamura.