Pandemic derails Akhaura-Agartala rail link work
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
August 13, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2022
Pandemic derails Akhaura-Agartala rail link work

Infrastructure

Azizul Shonchay
12 September, 2020, 12:30 pm
Last modified: 12 September, 2020, 01:58 pm

Related News

  • Railway to buy 290 container wagons for freight services thru’ Padma Bridge
  • Rail engines bought without feasibility study fail to ease locomotive crisis
  • Railway mismanagement: Roni submits memorandum to PM
  • Shohoz.com fined Tk2 lakh over irregularities in ticket sales
  • Train schedule disruption persists as Eid holidaymakers leave capital

Pandemic derails Akhaura-Agartala rail link work

The project has progressed only 10% despite receiving two time extensions to its tenure

Azizul Shonchay
12 September, 2020, 12:30 pm
Last modified: 12 September, 2020, 01:58 pm
Photo: TBS
Photo: TBS

Highlights:

  • Despite two time extensions to its tenure the project has only progressed 10% 
  • A visa crisis is preventing some key Indian workers from rejoining work
  • Work on the Tk240 crore project started on July 29, 2018 with a duration of 18 months
  • The length of Akhaura-Agartala rail link is 10.5km, of which 6.5km is on the Bangladeshi side
  • The rail line will connect Agartala's Nischintopur border to Brahmanbaria's Akhaura Gangasagar Railway Station

Work on the Akhaura-Agartala dual gauge railway link project is ongoing at a snail's pace with many workers still refraining to return to work in fear of contracting the novel coronavirus.

The project, which started on July 29, 2018, has progressed just 10% progress despite twice being given time extensions to its tenure, sources said.

Texmaco Rail and Engineering Limited, an Indian company implementing the project, was supposed to complete the work by January 29, 2020 but failed to do so in the stipulated time. Later, the time was extended to May 13 this year.

However, the company was unable to finish it owing to the novel coronavirus shutdown.

That is why the rail link project was again extended to June 2021 upon a request from the implementing company. 

After the two-month postponement, the project work resumed on June 1, but is going on slowly as some essential Indian workers–who had returned home during the shutdown–cannot now enter Bangladesh due to visa-related complexities. 

In this situation, project insiders are casting doubt over whether the project will be completed within the new timeframe. 

On August 9, on a visit to the project site in Gangasagar Railway Station area, it was seen that work on the customs and immigration building, some of the 16 bridges and culverts and land development was going on.

Photo: TBS
Photo: TBS

On condition of anonymity, a project engineer said that the project work had remained stopped for two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The construction was also hampered during the rainy season. As a result, completing the construction of bridges and culverts will take several more months.

Vaskar Bakshi, project manager of Texmaco Rail and Engineering Limited, told The Business Standard, "Some of our staff went back to India after the novel coronavirus pandemic hit. Some of them have already come back. However, 10-15 workers, including several consultants, have not been able to rejoin yet due to visa-related complexities. We have been trying to get special permission from the ministry concerned to bring them back."

"We have been trying to complete the project within the newly-extended time," he added.

Md Sabuktageen, manager of the Akhaura-Agartala dual gauge railway link (Bangladesh part) project, said, "All the project staff members are from India. Construction materials also come from India. But the customs-immigration process remains stopped due to the pandemic. Considering all this, the project has been extended to June next year."

The government signed a deal with the Indian company on May 21, 2018 to implement the project. The estimated cost of the project amounted to over Tk240 crore. The Indian government has funded the project.

The company started the project on July 29, 2018. The initial time limit of the project was 18 months.

The Akhaura-Agartala rail line's total length is 10.5km, of which 6.5km is on the Bangladeshi side. The rail link will connect the Nischintopur border in Agartala to Brahmanbaria's Akhaura Gangasagar Railway Station.

Bangladesh / Top News

Akhaura-Agartala rail link / Rail project / Railway / rail tracks / railway network / railway projects / Coronavirus impact / Effect of Coronavirus

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Ctg megaprojects get costlier from rising dollar, faulty plan
    Ctg megaprojects get costlier from rising dollar, faulty plan
  • Salman Rushdie. Photo: BBC
    Salman Rushdie may lose eye, is on ventilator, his agent says
  • Roundtable: Global energy crisis and challenges of Bangladesh
    Roundtable: Global energy crisis and challenges of Bangladesh

MOST VIEWED

  • Ctg waterlogging worsens as construction of sluice gates goes slow
    Ctg waterlogging worsens as construction of sluice gates goes slow
  • Ctg megaprojects get costlier from rising dollar, faulty plan
    Ctg megaprojects get costlier from rising dollar, faulty plan
  • The authority can choose certain hours on a given day in a week, when the bridge or parts of it on both ends will be available to interested walkers. PHOTO: MUMIT M
    Padma Bridge toll collection exceeds Tk100 crore mark
  • First consignment of Bangabandhu Rail Bridge machinery reaches Mongla port
    First consignment of Bangabandhu Rail Bridge machinery reaches Mongla port
  • Incumbent govt has improved capability of Chattogram port: Home Minister
    Incumbent govt has improved capability of Chattogram port: Home Minister
  • Photo: Collected
    Eviction drive starts to free Sitakunda hill

Related News

  • Railway to buy 290 container wagons for freight services thru’ Padma Bridge
  • Rail engines bought without feasibility study fail to ease locomotive crisis
  • Railway mismanagement: Roni submits memorandum to PM
  • Shohoz.com fined Tk2 lakh over irregularities in ticket sales
  • Train schedule disruption persists as Eid holidaymakers leave capital

Features

Toes and talons of Shikra. Photo; Enam Ul Haque

Shikra: A leopard with wings!

17m | Panorama
Photo: Noor-A-Alam

Around the world in 10 days: A chance to taste global cuisines

1h | Food
Lobbyists float ludicrous arguments to prevent tobacco control act amendment

Lobbyists float ludicrous arguments to prevent tobacco control act amendment

1h | Panorama
Will US-China tensions boil over?

Will US-China tensions boil over?

2h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

The ship that was sunk to kill a journalist

The ship that was sunk to kill a journalist

16h | Videos
What's next after searching Trump's house

What's next after searching Trump's house

1d | Videos
Dollar rate increasing in open market despite various initiatives by central bank

Dollar rate increasing in open market despite various initiatives by central bank

1d | Videos
Salimullah Khan on Joddopi Amar Guru

Salimullah Khan on Joddopi Amar Guru

1d | Videos

Most Read

1
Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 
Banking

Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 

2
Photo: Collected
Transport

Will Tokyo’s traffic model solve Dhaka’s gridlocks?

3
Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46
Energy

Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46

4
Representational Image. Photo: Collected
Bangladesh

Air passengers should plan extra commute time to airport: DMP

5
Arrest warrant against Habib Group chairman, 4 others 
Crime

Arrest warrant against Habib Group chairman, 4 others 

6
File Photo: State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid
Energy

All factories to remain closed once a week under rationing system

EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net