BANGLADESH is increasingly dependent on imports from India. According to Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh has imported goods worth 320,659 million USD in the 2010-11 fiscal year. The amount of exports to India although in comparison is trivial but still noticeable, amounting to 36,040 million USD. Most of this bilateral trade is done through the Haridaspur-Benapole border, since it is close to all the major commercial cities.
Although this particular border is heavily used by trucks, hundreds of tourists and medical patients each day, the roads that connect the two countries have the capacity to hold such traffic, but only just. According to a study by Rail India Technical and Economic Service in 2006, the goods traffic at Petrapole (Haridaspur) was approximately 400 trucks per day, while the 2006 passenger traffic was about 1,159 people daily.. The road that connects the major commercial and capital city of Bangladesh (Dhaka) and Benapole has a distance of about 343 km but it takes about 7 hours (excluding the ferry travel time) to reach Benapole. When it comes to India, it gets even worse. It takes about 4 hours to reach the nearest commercial city Kolkata. The road connecting Petrapole and Kolkata known as NH 35, is so narrow that two trucks often struggle to drive side by side. There are many settlements alongside the road which restrict the vehicles from cruising at a respectable pace even if the road is seemingly empty.
This is not only hampering the tourist and medical immigrants on either side of the border but is also narrowing down the trade possibilities. According to RITES, the projected traffic in 2030 on the Jessore road or NH 35 highway will be 2,938 trucks per day and the number of people traveling on either side of the border is likely to be 3,924 people per day. It is high time that the government of both Bangladesh and India think about doing something to solve this problem. For, this route holds great trade value and the betterment of it will lead to even better relations between the two neighbours.
Although this particular border is heavily used by trucks, hundreds of tourists and medical patients each day, the roads that connect the two countries have the capacity to hold such traffic, but only just. According to a study by Rail India Technical and Economic Service in 2006, the goods traffic at Petrapole (Haridaspur) was approximately 400 trucks per day, while the 2006 passenger traffic was about 1,159 people daily.. The road that connects the major commercial and capital city of Bangladesh (Dhaka) and Benapole has a distance of about 343 km but it takes about 7 hours (excluding the ferry travel time) to reach Benapole. When it comes to India, it gets even worse. It takes about 4 hours to reach the nearest commercial city Kolkata. The road connecting Petrapole and Kolkata known as NH 35, is so narrow that two trucks often struggle to drive side by side. There are many settlements alongside the road which restrict the vehicles from cruising at a respectable pace even if the road is seemingly empty.
This is not only hampering the tourist and medical immigrants on either side of the border but is also narrowing down the trade possibilities. According to RITES, the projected traffic in 2030 on the Jessore road or NH 35 highway will be 2,938 trucks per day and the number of people traveling on either side of the border is likely to be 3,924 people per day. It is high time that the government of both Bangladesh and India think about doing something to solve this problem. For, this route holds great trade value and the betterment of it will lead to even better relations between the two neighbours.
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