First waterways load to arrive from Bhutan
A cargo vessel containing crushed stone aggregates from Bhutan started for Bangladesh yesterday using waterways for the first time, potentially opening up a new route for bilateral trades.
The stone aggregates were transported by trucks from Phuentsholing in landlocked Bhutan to Dhubri Port in Assam, from where the cargo sailed through Brahmaputra River.
The development came after Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering’s maiden visit to Bangladesh in mid-April this year during which he signed five bilateral instruments. Cooperation on inland waterways was one of those.
India’s Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya flagged off the vessel containing the cargo, reported our New Delhi correspondent.
“This is the first ever waterways shipment [of Bhutanies consignment], Saiful Islam, deputy director (traffic and protocols) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) told The Daily Star yesterday.
An Indian cargo ship MV AAI, which is carrying 1005 tonnes of aggregates for a private company, got approval from Indian authority on July 10 and BIWTA gave go ahead on Thursday, he said.
The cargo, which will complete custom related works at Chilmari Port in Kurigram, is expected to arrive in Narayanganj Port in three to five days, he added.
Bhutan Exporters Association (BEA) General Secretary Tshering Yeshi said it was a much-awaited event, reported Bhutanese daily Kuensel.
“It is historic,” he said, adding that the “flagship” consignment was possible after India and Bangladesh declared Dhubri Port as “port of call.”
Bhutan has been exporting significant quantity of stone aggregates through the land route for different construction projects in Bangladesh.
The exports through inland waterways mode will serve as an alternative mode of transportation which is cheaper and more environment-friendly. It also offers larger shipment size as compared to road, avoiding congestion on land ports.
While the consignment is being transported in one single barge through inland waterways, by road it would have taken 50 trucks of 20 tonnes capacity each to carry the same volume of cargo.
To study the feasibility of the inland waterways, BEA and Bhutanese trade officials also recently travelled to Bangladesh using the same waterways route via Chilmari Port and Mongla Port.
“We found it is feasible and the depth of the river is satisfactory and even convenient in monsoons,” BEA general secretary Tshering Yeshi said adding that it will reduce transportation cost by 30 percent.