India and Bangladesh agreed to construct the inland container port at Ashuganj during the visit of the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Manmohan Singh to Dhaka in September, 2011. India is keenly interested in the project because the proposed port facilitates transportation of goods to Agartala, the capital of North Eastern India state of Tripura which is just 50 kilometers from Ashuganj. In an earlier meeting of India-Bangladesh joint commission, it was decided that the project would be implemented with funding from New Delhi.An eleven-member inter-ministerial committee with Mr. Md Alauddin , Joint-Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping (MoS) as the head has been formed to expedite the necessary process to begin constructing the port. The Committee has to submit a report within 15 days, recommending the spot for the construction of the port. The Committee has also to ascertain, after visiting the proposed spot for the port, the land requirement for the construction; it must also give the details about the extent of land acquisition from the government as well from the private sectors. According to a top Bangladeshi official of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, the proposed port might require some 29 acres of land and 18 acres of land are government owned or abandoned and the rest would have to be acquired from privately owned lands. The report, however, is awaited from the present committee.
A stitch in time saves nine; the earlier the implementation, the lesser is the impact of the escalation of the cost.
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