First international cargo for Dhaka flagged off from Bogibeel

A Correspondent

Dibrugarh: History was created on Monday when a barge carrying 540 metric tons (MT) of methanol left Bogibeel Terminal here for Dhaka through the Brahmaputra.

Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) Sarbananda Sonowal flagged off the vessel DLB Patkai, pushed by the tug Kushal Konwar from Bogibeel.

Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the ceremony virtually.

It is the first cargo shipped from upper Assam to a foreign port since India's independence in 1947, nearly 70 years after the town's river ghat closed.

Produced by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd (APCL), Namrup, the methanol is bound for Pangaon Port in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The vessel will travel about 768 km down the Brahmaputra - designated as National Waterway-2 (NW-2) - to the Indo-Bangladesh border, then continue along the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR).

The vessel will cover a total distance of 1,300 km from Bogibeel to Narayanganj, Dhaka.

The voyage is being observed as a test of whether the Brahmaputra can serve as a commercially viable freight corridor linking the Northeast to overseas markets. Regular methanol shipments to Bangladesh are planned.

The shipment became possible after customs and immigration complexes were set up at Bogibeel and Dhubri recently.

"Our grandparents grew up hearing the steamer whistle at Dibrugarh Ghat. For 70 years, that whistle fell silent and the ships stopped coming," Sonowal said. "Today, a ship leaves Dibrugarh for the world once again. The river never failed us. What it lacked for decades was the will to revive it."

Terming the shipment as a new beginning, Sonowal remarked, "This is the first voyage, not the last. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dibrugarh, the Tea Capital of India, is reclaiming the glory it once had as a great river port. We are building it with world-class infrastructure while honouring its heritage. The steamer whistle that fell silent in 1956 is heard again."

On his part, the Chief Minister called it a proud day for Assam. He said. "The Northeast is no longer a frontier. It is India's gateway to the East."

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