Tripura govt clears proposal to denotify land in wildlife sanctuary

Agartala: Tripura government has cleared the proposal for denotifying a 12.4 km stretch of land inside Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary, removing a major obstacle for railway extension work in the state. [caption id=“attachment_1720763” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Trishna Wild Life Sanctuary. Courtesy tripuratourism.gov.in[/caption] The move comes after receiving the approval of the Ministry of Environment and Forests for the same. State Forest Minister Naresh Jamataia told reporters that the Ministry of Environment and Forests has cleared the plea of denotifying 12.4 km of forest land area in Trishna wildlife sanctuary in South Tripura district following a request from the state government to push railway extension work from Udaipur to Sabroom. “Based on the approval of MoEF, the Cabinet has cleared the proposal for denotifying the plots in its last sitting removing a major obstacle for the railway extension work upto Sabroom”, he said. The 70 km railway extension work from Udaipur to Sabroom is scheduled to be completed by 2018 while 44 km extension work from Agartala to Udaipur is scheduled to be completed by March 2016. The entire 70-km stretch would be constructed in broad-gauge format. Northeast Frontier Railway General Manager (Construction) Rajesh Kumar Singh met Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and Transport Minister Manik Dey recently to brief them about the railway extension plan in Tripura. Special focus would be given on broad gauge conversion work from Lumding to Silchar segment beginning October 1 next, a Railway official said. PTI