India plans rail route through Bangladesh to connect 2 states
Rail route important for strategic and economic reasons, says JMCC head
The Indian government is planning to build a railway through Bangladesh to connect its northeastern state of Meghalaya with the rest of the country.
The Indian Railway has recently sent a proposal to the Railway Board, seeking approval of the project, railway sources said.
Bangladesh will become a connecting point between the two Indian states with the construction of this second rail route. As of now, there is only one route that connects the Northeast with the rest of India. It passes through New Jalpaiguri, New Cooch Behar, New Alipurduar and enters Assam.
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A Meghalayan apolitical body, Joint Movement Committee for Corridor (JMCC), flagged the demand for a rail route to connect Hilli of South Dinajpur on the India-Bangladesh border, with Mahendraganj, a bordering town in Tura district of Meghalaya, reports Telegraph India.
Naba Kumar Das, head of JMCC, said he has been informed about the project proposal. "The rail route is important for strategic and economic reasons," he said.
"As of now, one has to travel around 600km to reach Tura from South Dinajpur via Siliguri. But if this route is opened, the distance will come down to 120km," he pointed out.
In 2017, the Indian Union Ministry of External Affairs had carried out a feasibility survey of the proposed route, and recently, the Katihar division of the NFR sent a proposal to the Railway Board on it, said Das.
The proposal says the rail route will enter Bangladesh from Hilli and move through places like Ghoraghat, Palashbari and Gaibandha in northern stretches of Bangladesh, move through Brahmaputra and connect Mahendraganj of Tura.
"The stretch will be electrified. In the proposal sent to the Railway Board, it has been said that around Rs 7,000 crore would be required for the project, which includes a 10km bridge over Brahmaputra and an overbridge in Hilli," said a source in the NFR.
Das, along with some other members of the JMCC, met a delegation of Bangladesh at Zero Point in Hilli on Wednesday to discuss the proposed railway project.
"We asked them to approach the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina so that we can meet her next month. We want to request her to see that all necessary help is extended by the Bangladesh government as the route will pass through Bangladesh's land," he said.
Sources in the Katihar division of NFR – the proposal has been mooted by this division – said they are waiting for instructions from the rail board and the ministry.
