Blockade affects BD-India trade

FHM Humayan Kabir | Published: February 18, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

The trade between Bangladesh and India has been affected severely by the ongoing blockade.
The bus services between the two neighbours have virtually come to a halt since the opposition's disruptive political programmes began in the first week of last month. Trains are still running, but not many passengers are getting on those.
The bus services between Dhaka and Kolkata and Dhaka and Akhaura remain suspended for more than past one month because of the prolonged blockade and hartal programmes.
The Dhaka-Kolkata train service is also in trouble as it came under attack recently by some blockaders near the Iswardi station. The number of passengers travelling by the train has come down since the opposition enforced its political agitation. The number dipped further following the bomb attack on the train.
"I had a meeting at Kolkata with my business counterpart last month. But I was forced to shift it until the middle of the current month. I have again postponed the meeting due to stoppage of the bus service," Ruhul Khan, a businessman in Dhaka told the FE.
Since 1999, two bus services 'Souhardyo' and 'Shyamoli' operated between Dhaka and Kolkata, carrying thousands of passengers who cannot afford expensive air travel.
Besides, the two governments also started bus service between Dhaka and Akhaura a few years ago.
A Customs official at Benapole, south-western crossing point at the Bangladesh-India border, said since the business people are not being able to travel frequently to India, trade and commerce are being affected significantly. The major land port is not receiving consignments of imported goods as much as it was before the start of the political deadlock.
"Normally, some 200 consignments of imported goods used to enter the Benapole customs point. But this time the flow of imported goods is much lower than the normal flow," he told the FE requesting anonymity.
A Bangladesh Railway (BR) official said although the number of passengers in the Maitree Express has dropped due to fear of derailment and bomb attack, we have not suspended the service between the two countries.
On January 8, the Maitree Express train carried a single passenger on its Kolkata-bound journey. The number of passengers on other days has been also poor.
"The train carried nearly 100 passengers daily in the last few weeks although it has the capacity for 650 passengers," said the BR official.
Hossain Khaled, President of the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), told the FE that the people engaged in small and medium scale business activities usually travel by buses or trains.
"Since bus and train services are affected due to the blockade, trade and commerce between the two neighbouring countries have also been affected severely," he said.
Not only the external trade, local hotels, restaurants and tourism have been incurring huge losses as many of Indian tourists and business people are not coming to Bangladesh at this time, he said. He guesstimated that small hotels (one to 3-star) and restaurants in Bangladesh had incurred Tk 1.50 billion losses in first 15 days (till January 17) of the political unrest.
A Shyamoli Paribahan Manager Sagor Sarker told the FE that they had stopped the Dhaka-Kolkata bus services due to the blockade.
Meanwhile, thousands of Bangladeshis, who travel to India for treatment purposes every month, have also been affected seriously.
Many Indians who come to Bangladesh for reasons of business and tourism are also in great difficulty.
"I need to go to India for treatment of my mother. But how can I go if the situation does not improve and bus services resume? I cannot afford air travel," said Mohiuddin Ahmed, a banker in Dhaka.
kabirhumayan10@gamil.com