The Hindu Business Line : CIWTC resumes salt supply to Bangladesh

CENTRAL Inland Water Transport Corporation (CIWTC), the ailing public sector river transport company, has resumed salt shipments to Bangladesh after a number of years.

A 600-tonne self-propelled barge, `Prakriti', discharged salt at Narayangunge near Dhaka recently.

The loading was done at Haldia. Another flotilla of the capacity of 1,500 tonnes is to transport salt on the same route.

"Salt is a new addition to the traffic of fly ash CIWTC has been handling for shipments to Bangladesh for the past few months," according to sources in the Corporation.

"We are also exploring the possibility of handling foodgrains exports to Bangladesh," the sources observed.

CIWTC, however, would not make any money from salt shipments, the sources said.

This was because the freight rate, $11.25 per tonne, was not enough to cover the cost of the round trip; there was no cargo on the return journey.

Interestingly, a CIWTC, or for that matter any Indian flag, vessel is permitted to call only at the Narayangunge jetty, while Bangladeshi flag vessels can call at several jetties in the Kolkata Dock System and Haldia dock.

This is as per the protocol signed between the two countries.

More important, the Bangladeshi flag vessels can carry cargo anywhere within that country, not possible for Indian flag vessels. No wonder, the Bangladeshi flag vessels, mostly privately-owned, now account for the bulk of the trade by the river route between the two countries.

CIWTC's recent experience with river services on other routes too has been far from satisfactory.

For example, on the National Waterway No. 2 covering the Brahmaputra river in Assam, the flotilla, `Anandpur', has remained stranded for the past few months now.

The flotilla carried 1,500 tonnes of cement from Haldia to Tezpur a few months ago. After unloading the consignment, it came to Guwahati in ballast with the plan to load 1,500 tonnes of coal at Jogigopa, near Guwahati, for unloading at Haldia.

But several factors militated against the plan. There is no regular jetty at Jogigopa.

A makeshift jetty with bamboos was to have been erected. But that was not possible because of the floods in Brahmaputra river.

Also, the vessel could not be berthed along side due to the high tide. Now that the flood has receded, the hope of loading the cargo has brightened.

The route to Patna/Allahabad along the Ganga river (National Waterway No. 1) presents no better picture. `Prafulla', the self-propelled barge carrying iron dust from Patna to Haldia, ran aground in the river due to inadequate water about four months ago. The damage caused to the vessel is considered beyond repair.

`Homi Bhaba', a 300-tonne capacity vessel belonging the Inland Waterways Authority of India and carrying stone chips from Farakka to Patna, also met with the same fate.

Only a few weeks ago, yet another 600-tonne vessel, `Rajanikant', carrying iron dust from Patna to Haldia, was damaged near Patna due to poor navigability of the river.

Yet, the authorities concerned in Delhi want CIWTC to continue the services on the route.

CIWTC, therefore, plans to start loading soya oil at Haldia in `Atul Prasad', a 600-tonne self-propelled barge, for discharge at Patna, regardless of the navigability of the river.

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