Economy
Benapole–Petrapole Land Port to Suspend Import-Export Operations for Eight Days During Durga Puja, Passenger Movement to Continue
Translated by Desk Report
Import and export operations between Bangladesh and India through the Benapole–Petrapole land port will remain suspended for eight consecutive days, from October 17 to 24, on the occasion of the upcoming Durga Puja festival. However, cross-border movement of passengers holding valid passports will continue as usual during this period.
Regular import and export activities are scheduled to resume on the morning of October 25.
Badruzzaman Bony, General Secretary of the Benapole C&F Agents Staff Association, confirmed the information on Monday morning (October 12).
He said the Petrapole port authorities in India had formally notified their Bangladeshi counterparts of the suspension of trade activities during the festival.
According to the notification, the movement of goods through Petrapole port will remain suspended from October 17 to 21. Meanwhile, import and export operations through Benapole port will be halted from October 20 to 24 due to public holidays in Bangladesh.
Ruhul Amin, Acting Director of Benapole Land Port, said that certain internal port operations would continue despite the temporary suspension of cross-border trade.
He explained that cargo loading, unloading, clearance and customs assessment activities would operate as usual on October 18 and 19.
During these two days, Indian truck drivers would also be permitted to return to India with their empty vehicles after unloading their cargo.
Ruhul Amin further confirmed that regular import and export operations through the port would resume on the morning of October 25.
According to Benapole port sources, approximately 300 to 350 trucks carrying various goods enter Bangladesh from India through the port every day. Meanwhile, around 100 trucks transport export goods from Bangladesh to India daily.
As one of the country's major land ports, Benapole plays a significant role in bilateral trade, particularly in the transportation of industrial raw materials and other essential commodities.
Meanwhile, Kartik Chakraborty, General Secretary of the Petrapole Clearing and Forwarding (C&F) Agents Welfare Association, said that import and export operations at Petrapole port would remain suspended from October 17 to 21 for Durga Puja.
He also confirmed that regular trade activities would resume on October 25.
Chakraborty added that special arrangements would be made to clear consignments of hilsa fish if they were exported from Bangladesh to India during the festival.
Despite the suspension of cargo movement, immigration services will remain operational throughout the holiday period.
Saifur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Benapole Immigration Police, said that passengers holding valid passports would be allowed to travel between Bangladesh and India as usual.
He noted that passenger traffic could increase during Durga Puja and that police personnel had been instructed to strengthen security measures and monitoring to ensure safe and orderly movement through the immigration checkpoint.
Although regular import and export operations will remain suspended for eight days, passenger movement and certain scheduled internal port activities will continue during the festival period.
