1st lot of containers reach Tripura from Kol via coastal route

Kolkata: The first lot of containers transported from Kolkata port via Bangladesh reached Tripura on Thursday. The ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Thursday said it is a “historic milestone” in the Indo-Bangladesh connectivity and economic partnership.The trailer trucks on which the containers were loaded for the last leg of their journey by road from Chattogram port in Bangladesh to Agartala were received by Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb. While thanking the Ministry of Shipping, Deb said how this was a much awaited mode of transport of goods to the northeastern states of India since 1965. In a tweet, MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said it will help in further development of the northeastern region.Movement of goods and people to the northeastern states from the rest of India through East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was allowed till the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War after which relations soured between the two countries. Since then, all movement had to be made either through the narrow Chicken Neck corridor in north Bengal, resulting in delays and additional costs. Thanks to a new protocol between India and Bangladesh, goods bound for the northeastern states can now take the coastal route through Bangladesh. "The first lot of four transit containers started from the Kolkata Dock System (KDS) of Syama Prasad Mookeejee Port Trust (SPMPT) on July 16. After loading some export containers from the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), the MV Shejyoti reached Chattogram Port on Tuesday. Despite bad weather at Chattogram, the transit containers were unloaded from the vessel in the late evening and dispatched to Akhaura land customs station in Bangladesh. Travelling a distance of around 200 Km, the containers arrived at Akhaura LCS on Wednesday afternoon. After completing formalities, the containers departed for Agartala," a senior SPMPT said. Thanking trade partners and all those involved, port chairman Vinit Kumar noted how this route holds great potential for the noetheastern states. In future, a substantial quantity of rice, wheat, pulses, steel and project cargo is expected to be transported to these states using this multimodal route.