AGARTALA: Tripura has completed construction work on a floating jetty in Sonamura three weeks after the signing of the 2nd Addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade between India and Bangladesh.

Lauding the efforts taken by the government, Union Minister of State for Shipping, Mansukh Mandaviya, took to his official Twitter handle and uploaded the following tweet, “This floating jetty of Sonamura, Tripura, was built in just three weeks! I appreciate the efficiency of the inland waterways for putting Sonamura on the map of the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route and I am glad that it’s now a custom port which will bring economic development to the North East”.

According to the agreement, small boats and ferries with a capacity of 50 tons can now move between the route shared by India and Bangladesh.

In response to the tweet, Chief Minister, Biplab Kumar Deb, lauded the efforts of the Union Minister for ensuring the progress of the work even during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier, on June 20, the Sonamura-Daudkandi stretch of the Gumti River was approved as the India-Bangladesh protocol route with the signing of the 2nd Addendum to the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade between India and Bangladesh.

The Protocol Route will improve the connectivity between Tripura and adjoining states with Bangladesh’s economic centres.

The route will also boost bilateral trade between both countries and will connect all existing IBP routes.