Tura, July 10: A committee for the construction of a corridor from Balurghat in Bengal to Mahendraganj in Meghalaya, via Bangladesh, recently met in Balurghat to discuss about the international corridor as an emblem of goodwill and solidarity.

According to a press release issued today, the Joint Movement Committee for Corridor from Balurghat, Hili (in Bengal), to Mahendraganj, Tura (in Meghalaya), Through Bangladesh has taken the initiative to create the Indo-Bangla corridor through Gibandha, Ghoraghat and Palashbari in Bangladesh.

This corridor from Balurghat to Mahendraganj will be 100km long.

Currently, a person travelling from the Dakshin Dinajpur subdivision to Mahendraganj in South West Garo Hills has to navigate a circuitous route of more than 600km.

The release said the corridor would spread the message of goodwill and fraternity among the people of both countries and strengthen India's ties with Bangladesh. It will also open a new avenue for cultural and educational exchange, ease road communication and stimulate economic development between the two nations.

The release said that the committee had brought the matter to the notice of President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mahendraganj legislator Dikkanchi D. Shira, in her message regarding the matter, said: "It is a big initiative for all-round development of this part of the country."

Dikkanchi has communicated to the committee suggestions to build strategies.

Stating that Mahendraganj was a land custom station and coal, boulders and stone chips were being exported to Bangladesh from there, Dikkanchi said the state highway connecting Mahendraganj to the trade corridor of Bhutan, Assam and Bengal would boost trade relations.

Dikkanchi said National Highway 127 (b) would include the longest bridge over the Brahmaputra in the country, connecting Dhubri in Assam to Phulbari in Meghalaya.

"The proposed road and rail link from Mahendraganj in the South West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya to Hili in Balurghat (subdivision) of Bengal, via Ghoraghat, Palashbari and Gaibanda in Bangladesh, can be a game changer in furthering the trade and commerce and providing shortest and critical road and rail link between Bengal in India and Mahendraganj through Bangladesh," she said.

She said connectivity between Bengal and Meghalaya via Bangladesh provided the shortest alternative to connect the rest of the Northeast through Meghalaya, which is not only connected with the best road networks but also has been recently connected by rail.

"The importance of this proposed connectivity can provide relief from frequent road and rail blockades in north Bengal and unrest in Assam's Bodo belt," she added.