After a long wait, Tripura will witness the arrival of the first ship from neighboring Bangladesh on Saturday, which will connect the state’s Gomati River with India’s national waterways via Bangladesh’s Meghna River.
Testing of the inland waterways protocol route between India and Bangladesh began on Thursday with a boat carrying 50 metric tons of Bangladeshi cement, which would arrive later today at Sonamura in Sepahijala district, 60 kilometers from Agartala.
The Sonamura (Tripura) -Daudkandi (Bangladesh) route was included in the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) routes signed by the Indian High Commissioner in Bangladesh, Riva Ganguly Das, and the Bangladesh Shipping Secretary, Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury, in Dhaka in May this year.
According to a survey by the Bangladeshi authorities, 89.5 kilometers of the 90 kilometers of the Sonamura-Daudkandi protocol route fall in Bangladesh and the remaining 500 meters fall in India.
In early July, a floating jetty was inaugurated on the Gomati River as part of the Indo-Bangla International Inland Waterways Project.
Also Read: India-Bangladesh Inland River Route Will Be Operational Starting Today – All You Need To Know
Since 2018, a series of expert visits from India’s Inland Waterways Authority and India’s Land Port Authority have been conducted to verify the feasibility of using the Gomati River, the longest river in the state, for the route of connectivity of waterways.
According to the plan, the dredging of the Gomati riverbed would be carried out allowing the movement of small boats and ships from Sonamura to the port of Ashuganj in Bangladesh. The construction of a terminal building was also part of the plan to verify imported goods.
In early July, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said that the project would boost Indo-Bengali bilateral trade, making Tripura a key trading center in the northeast region. He predicted that the export volume would increase from Rs 30 million to Rs 400 million and that the state would import goods worth Rs 2 billion in one year.
Also read: India, Bangladesh will create a new mechanism to monitor bilateral projects
Currently, goods worth Rs 645 million rupees are imported.
Welcoming the new project, Tripura Chamber of Commerce and Industries President ML Debnath said: “One-way rivers like the Gomati River do not have tidal waves and do not have a large volume of water throughout the year. Except for monsoons, proper dredging can keep the route running for at least six months out of the year. As it is the first of its kind, we appreciate the initiative. ”
According to an economic expert, 150 times more goods are imported via roads through the Akhaura Integrated Checkpoint (ICP) compared to the 50 metric tons of goods that could pass through the project pier. The expert also said that the project’s potential for generating local employment may not be that high.
The entire Tripura merchants association sees hope in the waterways project saying that imported products from Bangladesh will be available at affordable prices.
An Agartala-based export-import trader said Tripura would benefit from transit charges for goods transported through Bangladesh.
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