First consignment reaches Agartala
Trucks carrying Indian goods reached Tripura from Ashuganj port yesterday making the long-cherished idea of transhipment into reality.
Four vehicles, including one trailer, laden with iron rods, travelled about 84km through Bangladesh's Akhaura checkpoint to Tripura's capital Agartola.
Eighty-four of 1,004 tonnes, brought from Kolkata to Ashuganj river port by a Bangladeshi ship on June 14, were carried to warehouses in Agartola, completing the source-to-destination cycle in 16 days. It takes about a month if trucks travel the existing route covering a distance of about 1,600km inside India.
The vehicles did not face any problem on the road, said Maksud Hossain, an official of Anbis Development Ltd, a Bangladeshi operator that hired ships and trucks to supply goods from Kolkata to Tripura's capital via Bangladesh.
However, the goods had to be unloaded at the warehouses manually since there was no modern facility in place, said Maksud who travelled with the trucks.
Customs officials escorted the trucks from Ashuganj to Akhaura on the Bangladesh side, he said, adding that police instead should have accompanied the vehicles since customs officials would not be able to deal with any unexpected situation or trouble.
According to the bilateral agreement, the National Board of Revenue is responsible for ensuring safety of Indian goods to be transhipped and customs is under the authority of the NBR.
On June 16, Ashuganj port witnessed the official launching of transhipment by unloading goods from the first consignment in the presence of ministers, lawmakers, senior government officials and top diplomats of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.
Transhipment began amid a lack of proper infrastructure. To provide the facility, the port is now operating with a small makeshift jetty and a warehouse and a makeshift customs office.
Officials of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) said the port lacks space to keep containers or materials upon unloading from ships.
Some loose goods can be transported through the port and it will be done with the help of the temporary set-up.
Moreover, the road from Ashuganj to Akhaura is narrow.
During a visit to the multi-modal transit system over 52 kilometres from Ashuganj port to Akhaura land port, it was found that infrastructure is not ready yet for large scale transhipment of Indian cargoes.
A modern inland container depot is still at its initial phase at Ashuganj port, which would facilitate transhipment upon completion. The widening of a 30km stretch up to Akhaura is yet to start.
Transhipment takes the relations between Dhaka and New Delhi to a greater height.
After the Awami League-led government came to power in 2009, India began persuading Bangladesh to provide the transit facility.
India's aim was to use Angtihara, the last checkpoint on its maritime border with Bangladesh, to carry goods to Ashuganj through the river route.
In 2010, Ashuganj was announced a Port of Call for transhipment.
That same year, a move was made to build a modern inland container depot with Indian credit on 28 acres of land on the banks of the Meghna river adjacent to Ashuganj food silo.
India would provide Tk 250 crore for building the container terminal but there has been little progress till now.
The land belongs to the railways and food ministries, Ashuganj fertilizer factory and private landowners.
Apart from the individuals, the authorities refused to give their land even after the government passed its approval, said Shipping Secretary Ashok Madhav Roy.
Locals said they could neither sell their land nor use it for other purposes since it was earmarked for acquisition.
The government has decided to make the depot on a separate piece of land, not owned by the ministries and the fertilizer factory, Ashok said, adding that the construction would begin soon.
A temporary terminal has been built by the side of the existing terminal for loading and unloading of local goods. As an interim arrangement, office buildings, parking yards and a small jetty have been built.
A private crane has been temporarily attached to the jetty for unloading Indian goods.
A paved road of half a kilometre connects the Ashuganj port with the highway. On both sides of the road trucks are parked always for carrying local goods. Transportation of heavy goods may cause severe traffic jam.
Trucks have to ply the Dhaka-Sylhet highway for 11km on their way to Akhaura checkpoint. That part is in good shape.
A distance of 18km to Sultanpur via Brahmanbaria remains very busy since goods trucks from Chittagong and Comilla ply the two-lane road. The road might not be fit for a huge number of trucks.
From Sultanpur to Akhaura, the road covering 10km has been improved with Indian finance in the last one year. It is in good condition now.
The road is narrow and has several dangerous turnings. The culverts are narrow too. Some 200 trucks ply the road each day for carrying goods of Bangladeshi exporters.
The authorities have sent a project proposal to the planning commission to turn the road into four lanes with loans from India. A vast area of land will have to be acquired to widen the road.
Uncertainty looms over the implementation of the project as locals oppose it.
The government is well aware of the infrastructure deficit.
Speaking with The Daily Star, Mashiur Rahman, economic affairs adviser to the prime minister, said, “If we want to expand trade with India, we need better infrastructure.”
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