Tura: A meeting of the Joint Movement Committee for development of Indo-Bangla Corridor from Hili in West Bengal to Mahendraganj-Tura in Meghalaya through Bangladesh was held at Tura Circuit House on Saturday. The meeting was chaired by Mahendraganj Legislator Dikkanchi D. Shira and attended by Parliamentary Secretary for Home, etc W.D. Sangma, Convenor of the Committee, Naba Kumar Das from West Bengal, Retd Joint Secretary of GHADC, C.B. Chetry and delegates from Bangladesh, West Bengal and Meghalaya, among others.
It may be mentioned that the the Working Group on Improvement and Development of Transport Infrastructure in North East under National Transport Development Policy Committee (NTDPC) in its report had strongly recommended the development of alternative highway alignment linking West Bengal and Bangladesh through the Hili in West Bengal – Mahendraganj in South West Garo Hills Corridor which is the closest approach from Meghalaya to West Bengal (the distance is just over a 100 kms.)
It is the vision of Meghalaya Chief Minister Dr.Mukul Sangma to see that the proposed route becomes trans-nation business corridor for the entire North East region and is aggressively pursuing it with much anticipation that it would bring a complete turnaround in the region’s economy.
Convener of the Joint Movement Committee, Naba Kumar Das informed the meeting that the proposal of Indo-Bangla corridor was initiated during the tenure of UPA Government in India and the same is now being pursued with the present Government, for which the Committee had already met and discussed the matter with the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari. It was also informed that the Union minister has supported the proposal and that the Government of India has already released an amount of Rs.3000 crore to Bangladesh for the purpose.
All the delegates present at the meeting also spoke in favour of the proposal as it would help to bring the build closer trade relations between the two nations. After threadbare discussions on the positive impact that the proposed Indo-Bangla corridor would create, the Committee decided to pursue the matter more aggressively with both the Governments of India and Bangladesh and the State Governments of West Bengal and Meghalaya.
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