BD clears to set up intake well for Tripura water treatment plant

Bangladesh government has cleared the proposal of setting up an intake well, a critical facility for the water treatment plant in Sabroom division of South Tripura district, to draw 1.62 cusecs of water from the Feni River at the Indo-Bangladesh international border, Outlook India.com reports.  
According to the proposal, Tripura will collect 20.32 litres of water per second from Feni River, which has been pending for long years.
"District Magistrate (DM) also informed that collecting water from the Feni River at Sabroom 22 pumps shall be used for irrigation and pumps with problems shall be solved while the construction work of the water treatment plant at Anand Para in Sabroom would be resumed," the report said.
A joint technical committee comprising with a 12-member delegation including Chief Engineer of the Bangladesh Water Development Board, Chittagong Md. Ramzan Ali Pramanik and DM of South Tripura district Saju Waheed, SDM of Sabroom sub-division Debdas Debbarma and officials of various departments of Tripura government including Irrigation and Water Resources departments visited the newly identified site of the intake well in Feni River on Tuesday (June 14, 2022) and finalised the site, it reports.
The site is 15-metre away from the international border.
"A copy of the design of the intake well was shared with the Bangladesh delegates and it ensured to convey the approval from the competent authority on an urgent basis to begin the water treatment project," Outlook India said on Tuesday (June 14), however, quoting an official, the Outlook said on Wednesday that "Bangladesh government has cleared the proposal of setting up an intake well, a critical facility for the water treatment plant in Sabroom division of South Tripura district."         
The intake well has been given the green signal at a meeting between Bangladesh delegation headed by the chief engineer of Bangladesh Water Development Board, Chittagong, Ramjan Ali Pramanik and the Indian delegation led by South Tripura district magistrate Saju Vaheed, he said.        
Earlier on February 18, the same delegation of India and Bangladesh inspected the drinking water and irrigation projects along the Feni River. The engineering aspects of the projects were discussed between the representatives of the two countries. It here be mentioned that the construction of the intake well has been pending since 2012 due to persistent objection from the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
"With the latest development, all obstacles for setting up a water treatment plant at Sabroom have been removed. The work will get underway after the permission by the state government and the BSF", it reads.
"With the latest development, all obstacles for setting up a water treatment plant at Sabroom have been removed. The work will get underway after the permission by the state government and the BSF", it added.
An official delegation of India and Bangladesh on Tuesday visited a new location for finalizing construction of an intake well to utilize Feni river water for various drinking water and irrigation projects.
Speaking with Northeast Today on Tuesday afternoon, District Magistrate (DM) of South Tripura district Saju Waheed said "A joint technical committee of India and Bangladesh visited the new location for construction of an intake well along the Feni river. The delegation of both the countries finalized the location. The design for the intake well was handed over to Bangladesh officials for approval and once it's done, the construction work of the intake well will begin."