AGARTALA: The opposition CPI-M today claimed that the people of Tripura's tribal inhabited areas were regularly crossing over to Bangladesh to collect food and return home and demanded that the areas be declared as "distressed."
"I have visited many areas, mainly in Dhalai district where indigenous people live in hill areas. They cross the Indo-Bangla border to collect forest produces to earn their livelihood. Due to starvation they are doing it. It is a matter of shame," CPI(M) MP Jiten Chowdhury told reporters here.
"Three to four hundred people everyday cross the border and return after collecting forest produces including medicinal plants," the CPI(M) Central Committee member said.
Chowdhury, who is also the president of the party's tribal wing Gana Mukti Parishad (GMP), said the BJP-IPFT government should declare the areas as "distressed" and take appropriate measures without any delay.
No minister or government official is available to comment on the issue.