Permanent jetty would be built on river Gomati at Sonamura: Mandaviya

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviyaon Saturday said a permanent jetty and other infrastructurewould be built soon on the river Gomati at Sonamura inTripura's Sepahijala district for smooth movement of bargesand small ships in Sonamura-Daudkhandi waterways.

The Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways,who arrived here on a two-day visit on Saturday, saiddevelopment of infrastructure on the Sonamura-Daudkhandiwaterways would create jobs and enhance export and importtrade between Bangladesh and the north eastern region.

''I will inspect Sonmura, where a floating jetty wasconstructed last year and would also see the availablefacilities like warehouse, etc. A permanent jetty would beconstructed there and foundation would be laid within twothree months'', Mandaviya told reporters at the state BJP partyoffice here.

The Sonamura-Daudkhandi waterways through river Gomati (90 km) was approved as India-Bangladesh protocol route onMay 21, 2020 with the signing of 2nd addendum in Dhaka by RivaGanguly Das, then high commissioner of India in Bangladesh,and Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury, secretary, ministry ofshipping, Bangladesh.

The 90 km long waterways protocol route connectingSonamura in India and Daudkandi in Bangladesh becameoperational on September 5 last year when Tripura ChiefMinister Biplab Kumar Deb received the first vessel atSonamura port.

He said, dredging on the route has already started inBangldesh side of the protocol route so that barges and thesmall ships can move for maximum time of a year.

The Sonamura-Daudkandi route was included in the listof Indo-Bangla protocol (IBP) routes in May last year.

Tripura had set up a floating jetty on the river onJuly 4 as part of the Indo-Bangla international inlandwaterways connectivity project.

Of the 90-km stretch, around 89.5-km is in theneighbouring country.

Gomati is a seasonal river and the water route canremain operational for only 3-4 months in a year as silts aredeposited fast.

At present ships and steamers ply from Haldia in WestBengal to Daudkandi in Bangladesh, which is only 80 km fromTripura's Sonamura sub-division in Sipahijala district.

The Union minister said Bangladesh and India havesigned an agreement for a protocol route connectingChittagong, Mongla and Haldia ports earlier and Tripura wouldbe well connected with the rest of the country and Bangladesh,when Sonamura-Daudkandi waterways would be fully connectedwith the Chittagong port.

Chittagong port is just 70 km from Sabroom, a townnear the Indo-Bangladesh border in Tripura's South districtand is well connected to Agratala by roads and railways now.

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