Agartala, Jan 16: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Wednesday assured the state assembly that he would take up with the Centre the issue of the Bangladesh government’s move to build a massive embankment on its land, opposite to Kailashahar subdivision in the state’s Unakoti district.
The assurance came after Congress legislator Birajit Sinha drew Saha’s attention on the matter.
“The Bangladesh government has been constructing a massive embankment opposite Kailashahar. We had a 40-year-old embankment at Rangaoti. If our embankment is not strengthened on an urgent basis, people will suffer in case of flood,” Sinha said.
State’s Fisheries Minister Sudhangshu Das, who hails from Unakoti district, said it is an international matter and a few stretches of the India-Bangladesh boundary in the district are still unfenced leading to cattle smuggling in bordering areas.
“This is an international matter. I have already sent reports to Delhi suggesting the strengthening of embankments. I will refer the matter to the Centre again”, Saha assured.
When contacted, Unakoti District Magistrate D K Chakma said he received information that Bangladesh has been constructing an embankment on its side.
“If the embankment is constructed on the Bangladesh side, there will be trouble of passing flood water from Kailashahar to downstream (in Bangladesh) during monsoon,” he added.(PTI)
