Agartala: Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Tuesday sought the support of the Centre to start work on a 257km rail track from Jawharnagar in Tripura to Kalay in Myanmar via Darlawn in Mizoram.
The move will promote business, trade, culture and regional integration, Deb said, at a meeting of the Niti Forum for Northeast here on Tuesday. The forum was constituted to plan regional development under the apex planning body.
The BJP and Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura unseated the CPM-led Left Front government in the February 18 Assembly elections.
The government is committed to generate economic growth and employment for all, Deb said. He added that Tripura had the potential to be developed as a hub of international travel and trade.
"Agartala airport needs to be declared an international airport and developed as a hub of international travel to Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong and Southeast Asian counties like Taiwan, Hong Kong and Bangkok," Deb said.
He also sought a dedicated Internet gateway through Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.
Tripura now has 10 GBPS Internet connection via the neighbouring country. Deb said the available bandwidth is catering to users from Tripura and a few northeastern states. He asked the Centre to install Gateway GPRS Support Node or GGSN to make the service available to users throughout the country.
Deb also urged the Centre for an East-West Corridor, which, he claimed, would boost trade and commerce.
Proposals were laid out for waterways connectivity from Maharani in South Tripura district, with Daudkandi in Bangladesh, speedy completion of the Feni bridge in Sabroom of South Tripura, Agartala-Akhaura rail project and tourism promotion.
"More funds need to flow through DoNER for tourism," the chief minister added.
On flood and river management, he sought the release of Rs 2.59 crore for 10 completed schemes and Rs 1.12 crore for a few other schemes taken up during the previous plan period.
He sought Rs 14.07 crore for anti-erosion work along the Feni river in Bangladesh for protection of "vulnerable locations" on the Indian side.
