India wants early start of the customs and immigration facilities at Ramgarh land port, officials said here.
Bangladesh, however, is not ready to comply with the Indian request at the moment.
Officials here said New Delhi wanted Dhaka to open up of the facilities immediately after inauguration of the bridge over Feni River that connected the Khagrachhari district with the Indian state of Tripura.
Bangladesh while responding made it clear that it would not be possible now to open the facilities at the Land Customs Station (LCS) at Ramgarh due to lack of necessary infrastructure.
The LCS even does not have a building at present to accommodate the officials and logistics that are necessary to provide the services, they said.
In the last six months, officials said, India sent three letters to Bangladesh authorities for starting the immigration and customs services to facilitate passenger movement and bilateral trade between Indian Sabroom and Bangladesh's Ramgarh.
They said that India mainly wanted to connect and enjoy the export-import facilities by using the Chattogram seaport and the bridge.
The bridge can be used to carry goods from one Indian state to another through Chattogram seaport once the facilities of the LCS open, said officials at the shipping ministry of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has granted India water and land transit facilities as well as allowed using Chattogram and Mongla ports to carry goods from one state to another.
According to the shipping ministry officials, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka sent Bangladesh three letters -- one in mid-January, another in late April, and the latest one in late June to make the land port operational.
"… the Sabroom LCS has been activated from 26 March, 2021 and the Indian authorities concerned have proposed to start immigration and custom services through LCS Sabroom-Ramgarh to facilitate passenger movement and bilateral trade," according to the letter sent in June.
"…kindly inform the relevant authorities of Bangladesh for necessary preparatory action for operationalisation of the Ramgarh LCS on the Bangladesh side with deployment of required staff/manpower, for immigration, customs procedures and associated activities," it added.
However, officials concerned here said that there is no possibility of operationalisation of the immigration and customs facilities at the station until construction of the required infrastructure is completed.
They said the Ramgarh land port building will be constructed under the Bangladesh Regional Connectivity Project at a cost of Tk 1.40 billion, funded by the World Bank.
Shipping secretary Mohammed Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury told the FE Monday that the tenders for construction of the land port building were received and remained at the evaluation stage presently.
"At this moment, there is no infrastructure for opening up the facilities at Ramgarh," he said.
Mr Chowdhury said Bangladesh also has interest in opening the land port since its export to India will increase due to the facility.
The land port project is scheduled to be completed by June 2023, according to him.
syful-islam@outlook.com