Bangladesh embankment issue communicated to Centre: CM

Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, for the first time, breaking his silence over the construction of embankments by the Bangladesh government along the state’s international borders, on Tuesday said that the matters have been communicated to the Centre.

The Bangladesh government has been constructing embankments on their sides opposite to Tripura’s Unakoti and South Tripura districts, triggering tensions as these embankments may endanger the district towns of Kailashahar and Belonia, respectively and adjoining border villages during monsoon floods.

The Chief Minister, while speaking to the media on the sidelines of the programme of inauguration of the school building at Amtali in Agartala, said that the government is seriously looking into the matters.

He said that in the case of the Unakoti district, the state government has already taken necessary steps. Regarding the embankment issues in South Tripura district, he stated that detailed information has been gathered and forwarded to the Centre for appropriate action.

The Chief Minister informed that the state is also constructing embankments in vulnerable areas and expressed hope that residents would not face further hardships due to the developments across the border.

Meanwhile, Tripura Public Works Department Secretary Kiran Gitte, who visited both Unakoti and South Tripura districts and along with senior officials and conducted on-the-spot studies in both the bordering districts, said that the state government has already taken up to construct new embankments and repairing the old embankments in different parts of the state at a cost of Rs 150 crore.

Before the start of the monsoon, works in most places would be completed, he said, adding that the PWD, Water Resource Development departments and disaster management authorities are ready to deal with any eventualities during the four-month-long (June to September) monsoon period.

Gitte said that to protect the South Tripura district headquarters, Belonia and Unakoti district headquarters, Kailashahar, adjoining villages and habitations, embankments are being constructed, and other measures have been taken up, and the ongoing works would be further intensified.

During the last year's (in August) catastrophic flood and landslides, many river embankments along the India-Bangladesh border and other infrastructure were damaged and the government has identified 43 such locations in different districts, including South Tripura district, the senior IAS officer said, adding that works to repair these infrastructures either started or to be started soon.

CPI(M) MLA Dipankar Sen and Congress MLA and former minister Birajit Sinha urged the state government to take the embankment issues with the Union government for taking appropriate action.

Seeking the Central government's intervention, the Sinha has organised a series of agitations in Kailashahar, the district headquarters of Unakoti district.