The Hindu Business Line : KDS-Bangla port barge movement on cards

Container Corporation of India (Concor), that has initiated the move, has already signed an MoU with an Indian private firm that will offer barges and take care of the wide gamut of operations relating to shipments at the KDS end. Another MoU is believed to have been signed with a Bangladeshi firm that will provide handling and other equipment.

Narayangunge port, a riverine port located near Dhaka, is complete with barge jetties and warehouses but the facilities for handling containers there leave much to be desired.

Concor has also initiated discussion with Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation, which owns Narayangunge port.

Initially, two barges, each of the capacity of 1,500-tonne, will be pressed into operation. Depending on the type of cargo to be transported, about 55 to 60 containers can be moved by each barge. The plan is to have two sailings each month each direction. The average turnaround time is estimated at 15 days or so.

While the cargo inducement for the KDS-Narayangunge leg, it is felt, will be adequate, the same may not be true about the movement in the opposite direction (i.e. Narayangunge-KDS).

Right now, Bangladesh imports large quantities of a variety of items originating from India's northern region. These include textiles, fabrics, light engineering items, white cement and various other goods.

The Indian subsidiary of an international FMCG company sends about 100 containers worth of goods every month to Bangladesh.

Under the present arrangement, the exports for Bangladesh come by rail to KDS where the consignments are unloaded for onward movement by road up to Petrapole, the last Indian town on the border with Bangladesh. The consignments are transhipped second time for reloading into trucks for movement within Bangladesh.

Once the barge movement starts, the problem of multiple handling can be dispensed with. This will also lead to reduction in transportation cost. Since Concor now operates a full-fledged terminal within KDS, the trains carrying exports for Bangladesh from north India (or for that matter from any part of India) can move straight into the dock for loading into barges.

There is another point. The problem of multiple handling is prevailing not only on the Indian side of the border. There being load restrictions on the Jamuna Bridge in Bangladesh, not all consignments can be transported over the bridge. A roundabout route is often required to be taken involving multiple handling. Then there is a problem of mismatch of gauges.

However, the success of the proposed barge movement of containers with Bangladesh, it is felt, will also depend on how the Bangladeshi authorities can handle the road transport operators who as a group represent a powerful lobby in that country.

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