Rail Minister Nurul Islam has expressed discontent over slow progress in the construction of the Akhaura-Agartala rail link and ordered the contractor to speed up and complete the work by December.
Accompanied by Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami, Islam visited the project site at Shibnagar near the India-Bangladesh border in Akhaura on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com.
“It’s an important project for both countries, and both are unhappy with the progress. I’m not sure the contractor will be able to complete the work at all. The firm is saying that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the delay,” Islam told reporters.
“We’ll be happy if they can complete the work by December.”
A new firm will be assigned if the delay by the contractor leads to the scrapping of the contract, the minister said.
“The prime ministers of both countries are paying the highest importance to the implementation of the project. We hope the work will be complete by the extended deadline. My colleagues are visiting the site regularly to see the work progress,” said Doraiswami.
Bangladesh and India agreed to build the Akhaura-Agartala rail link during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in January 2010.
India will spend 2.51 billion rupees on the 14-kilometre rail link. After completion of the project, the Indian state of Tripura will be connected with Akhaura in Bangladesh with direct rail links. It will make the shipments of goods between eastern and western India faster.
