Officials from Bangladesh, India inspect River Feni project

Members of a joint technical committee of Bangladesh and India on Friday inspected the drinking water and irrigation projects along River Feni.

This river is located in the Sabroom sub-division of India's Tripura state – some 129km away from Agartala city, reports Indian media.

As a section of the river demarcates the border thus demands intervention from governments of both the neighbouring countries, should there be a development initiative and dispute.

According to the Tripura government, a 12-member Bangladesh delegation comprising Chief Engineer of the Bangladesh Water Development Board, Chattogram, Md Ramzan Ali Pramanik and Member of the Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission Md Mahmudur Rahaman joined Indian officials led by south Tripura District Magistrate Saju Waheed in the inspection along the river on Friday. 

A large area of south Tripura, especially Belonia and Sabroom subdivisions, depend on River Feni for drinking water as well as irrigation for farmlands. A project to draw 1.62 cusecs of water from the river is yet to be completed.

The joint team essentially inspected the project site and discussed technical issues besides land and boundary issues. 

Senior officials of Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and its Indian counterpart Border Security Force (BSF) were present during the inspection.

South Tripura District Magistrate Saju Waheed said that work for a sealed water treatment plant linking RIver Feni in the Anand Para locality in Sabroom will be resumed soon. 

He said discussions had been held with Bangladesh officials on matters related to the setting up of 22 pumps for extracting water from the river for irrigation purposes on the Indian side.