Agartala, July 15: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb met Sarbananda Sonowal, who recently took over charge as the Union Minister for Ayush and Ports, Shipping and Waterways, in New Delhi and demanded a permanent jetty for Srimantaur in the Sepahijala district.

Deb sought Sonowal’s support for Inland Waterways Connectivity and also discussed the need for a permanent jetty at Srimantaur. The Central Minister assured all the required support for the same, Deb Tweeted.

“A permanent jetty is required to be constructed at Srimantapur. It is learnt that recently the Ministry has sanctioned Rs 10 Cr for the same. The preparation of DPR needs to be expedited so that the work can start at the earliest,” Deb told Sonowal.

He also highlighted that the depth of river Gomati was very low at some places and thorough dredging was required for vessels to flow on the route. 

In a recent survey conducted by the IWAI, it was found that about 10 Lakh CuM sand needed to be removed. Deb requested the Union Minister for expediting the work by provisioning necessary funds.

He also placed a demand to increase the heights of some bridges on the stretch from Daudkandi to Sonamura.

He also mentioned that the trial run on the protocol route from Allhabad-Haldia-Sonamura was yet to be conducted.

"If this route can be operationalized, the material from Northern India would be able to reach Tripura through waterways thus saving a lot of transportation cost," Deb told the Union Minister, according to a government press release.