AGARTALA, June 4 - Opposition CPI-M on Sunday 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 Chowdhuri told reporters here.
�Three to four hundred people everyday cross the border and return after collecting forest produces including medicinal plants,� he said. Chowdhury, who is also the president of the party�s tribal wing Gana Mukti Parishad, said the BJP-IPFT government should declare the areas as �distressed� and take appropriate measures without any delay. � PTI
