Trial run on new Bangladesh-Tripura river route begins

The trial run from Daudkandi in Bangladesh to Sonamura in Tripura began today as a vessel, MV Premier, set sail from the former with 50 metric tonne of cement cargo. It is scheduled to reach Tripura on Saturday.

Agartala (Tripura): The trial run on the Sonamura-Daudkandi inland waterways protocol route connecting Tripura to Bangladesh began with a vessel setting off from the Bangladeshi side on Thursday.

According to an official release, the vessel, MV Premier carrying cement, started from Daudkandi today, and will reach Sonamura on September 05, traversing 93 kilometres along the river Gomati.

This would be the first ever export consignment from Bangladesh to Tripura through the inland waterways, and would be received at Sonamura in the presence of Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Riva Ganguly Das.

Tripura had set up a floating jetty on the river on July 4 as part of the Indo-Bangla international inland waterways connectivity project.

Traders of India and Bangladesh had demanded a trial run of vessels on the Gomati river to operationalise the Indo-Bangla protocol route between Sonamura and Daudkandi, officials said.

Read:Tripura-Bangladesh inland waterways route to be operational on Sep 5

The 93-kilometre-long Sonamura-Daudkandi route, included in the list of Indo-Bangla protocol (IBP) routes in May this year, is expected to boost trade, Secretary of Tripura's Industry and Commerce Department, Kiran Gitte had said.

The inclusion of Sonamura - Daudkandi stretch of Gomati river (93 km) as a new route in the Protocol will improve the connectivity of Tripura and the adjoining States with Indian and Bangladesh’s economic centers and will help the hinterland of both the countries, the official release said.