Agartala-Akhaura check post to get a facelift by 2019

The Agartala-Akhaura check post, second-largest trading point between India and Bangladesh, is all set to get a facelift with a cafeteria, boating facility, visitors gallery and Indo-Bangla land port being planned at the border post by next year.

To be developed under the Ministry of Tourism's Swadesh Darshan scheme, the border post is modelled on the Wagah border with Pakistan, officials said today.

The Centre has sanctioned Rs 99 crore for the project and the Tripura government will look into its implementation.

"There will be a cafeteria and a water body will be turned into a boating and entertainment park so that tourists can come and spend time here," Debashish Nandy, Incharge, Land Ports Authority of India at the Agartala-Akhaura border here.

The project, Nandy said, was likely to be completed by March, 2019 and would be able to hold around 2,000 to 3,000 people in the visitors gallery.

The Agartala-Akhaura check post is the second-largest trading point between India and Bangladesh after Benapole and Petrapole with West Bengal.

The Wagah border-like retreat ceremony will also be replicated at the Agartala-Akhaura check post, but with less severity.

While the beating retreat at the Indo-Pak border is more aggressive, the one here would be conducted in a friendly atmosphere, officials said.

The Railways is also building a 12.03 km long railway line to connect Agartala with Akhaura in Bangladesh. The project will be completed by December, 2020. Out of the total railway line, 5.46 km will be in India and 6.57 km in Bangladesh.

The line is expected to give a big boost to tourism in the area.