Agartala: Rice from southern India to Tripura via Bangladesh is likely to reach here Thursday, bringing to fruition a three-year-long diplomatic and strategical endeavour between New Delhi and Dhaka.
“The first consignment of 5,000 tonnes of rice in small ships from Kakinada port in Andhra Pradesh reached Saturday at Ashuganj river port in (eastern) Bangladesh via Kolkata port,” Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Bhanulal Saha told IANS here.
He said: “The rice, meant for Public Distribution System, would now be loaded on trucks from Wednesday or Thursday to take it at the FCI (Food Corporation of India) depots in Agartala.”
“Around 20 trucks are expected to arrive Agartala everyday for the next 12 to 13 days from Thursday.”
Ashuganj river port in eastern Bangladesh is around 40 km from here. The rice-loaded trucks would reach Agartala from Ashuganj (under Brahmanbaria district of Chittagong division of Bangladesh) within two hours.
Due to the Eid-ul Fitr festival in Bangladesh, unloading and loading of the rice from vessels to trucks was delayed for a few days.
Saha said in the next phase, another 5,000 tonnes of rice would be ferried to Tripura in the same manner and through the same route.
“In view of conversion of railway lines from metre gauge to broad gauge, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) would stop train services in Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram and southern Assam from this year’s October to June next year,” the minister said.
“In view of this, carrying of food grain and other essentials from different parts of the country to northeastern states of India via Bangladesh is very vital,” he added.
Saha said: “I had telephonic talks with Mizoram’s Food and Civil Supplies Minister John Rotluangliana a few days back and discussed about the possible problems of carrying food grain from different parts of the country after the closer of the train services to the region.”
The minister said he would approach the railway and union food and civil supply ministers to hold a meeting in Guwahati to ferry food grain. (IANS)
