Assam Gets Access To Chittagong Port In Bangladesh

Assam Gets Access To Chittagong Port In Bangladesh

GUWAHATI: At long last, Assam has got access to Chittagong Port in Bangladesh. India was denied access to this port for various political reasons in 1957.

Ever since coming to power at Dispur, the BJP-led coalition government was taking up the issue of access to Chittagong Port with the Central government so as to cut transportation cost of various products and expand trade and commerce.

The Central government, on the other hand, was taking up the issue with Dhaka. Dispur has already received communication for access to this important port of Bangladesh. This development is viewed as a step forward by many insofar as the ‘Act East Policy’ is concerned.

Talking to The Sentinel, State Transport, Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said, “Ever since coming to power, the BJP-led government at Dispur was putting pressure on the government at the Centre for access to Chittagong Port in Bangladesh. The Centre took up the issue with the right earnestness with Dhaka, and now we’ve gained access to the commercially important port in Bangladesh.”

Patowary further said: “Already four dredgers are at work for digging a river route on the Assam stretch of the Brahmaputra for sailing ships bound for Chittagong. The test sailing of a vessel from Bihar has been successful. The vessel has reached Pandu in Guwahati from Bihar via the Ganga and Chittagong Port in Bangladesh. Now we’re contemplating on laying stress on water transport as this mode cuts transportation costs, besides easing out traffic congestion in surface transport.”

Keeping an eye on the industries in the Sonapur area on the outskirts of Guwahati, Patowary said, “Sonapur, near Guwahati, has a number of industries. Since river Kopili flows through Sonapur, we can dredge the river so as to make it fit for sailing ships. This will let us transport products to Bangladesh and elsewhere in India via the Kopili-Brahmaputra-Chittagong route.”

In undivided India, Chittagong was a very important port for Assam and rest of the country.

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