Agartala, July 30 (PTI): Land acquisition for the 15 km long Agartala-Akhaura rail project to link Indian Railways with Bangladesh Railways, has started, officials said today. "We have served notices to 257 families to acquire 66 acres of land for the rail project and the land would be handed over to the railways by August end", West Tripura District Magistrate and Collector Milind Ramteke told reporters. He said the Central government has already released Rs 97.63 crore to acquire the land. The process of laying the 15 km long railway tracks to connect Agartala with Akhaura in Bangladesh will be completed in two and half years time after laying of tracks begin. Out of the 15 km track, 5 km would be on Indian side and the rest in Bangladesh. Ramteke said that the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is the nodal agency for implementation of the project in Indian side. Bangladesh government has also started acquiring around 70 acres of land for the project, NFR officials said. Railway minister Suresh Prabhu and his Bangladesh counterpart, Majibul Haque had jointly laid the foundation stone here on July 31 last year. A flyover of 3.7 km would be constructed on the Indian side to save cultivable lands and the entire project cost would be borne by the government, he said.
