Need for transparent transshipment operation

The recent passage of a convoy of trailers with goods weighing some 326 tonnes that started from Kolkata and went through Ashuganj in Bangladesh to reach the Indian state of Tripura marked the start of the overland transshipment operation by cargo-laden Indian vehicles under the bilateral accord that was reached last year. India has been otherwise enjoying transit for its cargoes through the river route in Bangladesh since long. The start of the overland transshipment operation has raised some eyebrows. Critics note here a hush operation as far as the official media is concerned. The official media almost ignored the event which may be interpreted as some sort of lack of interest on the part of the government to put focus on it. But why is this non-transparent attitude on the part of the government? That is a pertinent question. Leading figures in the government are specially remembered for making highly optimistic projections of earnings for Bangladesh from the collection of transshipment fees from Indian cargoes. The earnings for Bangladesh were projected to be billions of taka. The same were supposed to create a sustainable new source of income for the national economy. But all such bright hopes have now disappeared. It would not have been so, had India been pro-active enough to implement its own commitments under the same accord. The government of Bangladesh should also have sorted out the issue about transshipment fees, prior to making operational the arrangement for it, beforehand with India. Free-passage without any sort of payment for the service has raised questions about how Bangladesh would be ensuring a win-win situation for itself. Bangladesh's own infrastructure, especially roads, could also suffer badly even in the short-term from allowing such mindless transit. According to a media report, the roads in Bangladesh can at most take pressure from lorries weighing 30 tonnes. But the Indian trailers that passed through Bangladesh to reach Tripura recently weighed each about 30 tons. An agreement such as the one on transit for India should have been submitted to the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) for its scrutiny long ago. But this has not been done. This also raises more concern about the non transparent attitude of the government in relation to it. Anwarullah Khan Nasirabad Chittagong