Due to lack of fair intention of the government, Maitri Setu has not yet been operational. CPI (M) Parliamentary leader Jitendra Choudhury has made this allegation.
He expressed his anger that the government is unnecessarily delaying the opening of Maitri Setu (Maitri Bridge).
A year ago, ahead of the assembly pollsPrime Minister virtually inaugurated the Maitri Setu. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh also participated in the virtual inauguration after being invited. Although the bridge built on the international border was inaugurated by the Prime Ministers of the two countries, it has not yet been put into operation.
MLA Jitendra Chowdhury raised the issue in the recently concluded Tripura Sssembly Budget Session.
In a written reply to the left MLA’s question, the Minister of Industry said:
The construction work of the bridge started on October 27, 2017. NHIDCL completed the construction work on March 4, 2021. Import-export trade through this center can be expected to start soon.
The Minister of Industry could not give any time frame in reply to this question.
The minister replied that the matter depends on the approval of India and Bangladesh.
The excuse given by the government is that the construction of integrated check post yet to complete. By when will the work of this ICP be completed and launched? In response to Jeetendra Chowdhury’s question, the Industries Minister told that 60 percent of the integrated check post has been completed. Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) said the construction work will be completed by the end of this year.
CPI (M) MLA Jitendra Choudhury said, “ICP is being prepared, it is a good thing, but where is the obstacle for the passage of passengers and goods on a small scale? Khowai, Kamalpur is running with minimal infrastructure. There is a lot of infrastructure here. The bridge is built. At one time, the deployment of their customs personnel in Ramgarh towards Bangladesh had also started. The matter has stalled as Customs personnel are not deployed inside India.
Jitendra Choudhury said, it is very surprising that even after the year of inauguration by the Prime Ministers of the two countries, the movement of people or goods could not be started through that bridge. The bridge is not operational because of the fair intention of the government. The government could have the bridge operational even on a small scale.
