The Hindu Business Line : Concern over truck congestion on Bengal-Bangla border

Kolkata May 20 The West Bengal Transport Minister, Mr Subhas Chakraborty, hasexpressed concern over the acute congestion of trucks at various border points with Bangladesh, saying that persistence of the problem was not in the best interest of promoting trade by the land route between the two countries.

"Hardly a day passes when I, as the State's Transport Minister for the past 14-15 years, do not get complaints of harassment at the border points caused by various factors, the most important being thedetention of trucks," the Minister observed.

Addressing a seminar on `India-Bangladesh Trade — Seamless Flow of Goods', organised here on Saturday by the Chennai-based Institute of Logistics of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in partnership with CII, Eastern Region, and International Road Union (IRU) — the Geneva-based non-government body devoted to promotion of road transport globally as an effective medium of trade — Mr Chakraborty emphasised the need for working out a mechanism, both at the Government and other levels, on how to tackle the congestion problem at the border points.

"While the promotion of business only concerns the trade, there are various other issues like safety, security and environment protection and even cultural change which are closely linked to the issue of road transportation and which concern the Government," he said. Equally critical was the issue of political stability in trading countries, he observed.

Mr Umberto de Pretto, Deputy Director General of IRU, gave an account of why and how IRU was formed in 1948 and pointed out that as many as 70 countries were now its members. Since India had a thriving border trade with its neighbours by the land route, it was imperative that the country become a member and thus protectthe interests of the trade, he said.

Tea example

Mr S.L. Ganapathi, Managing Director, Logistics Plus India Ltd, pointed out how Indian tea travelling to Ukraine by road from the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas attracted higher tariff because the country was not a signatory to various international road transportation conventions administered by IRU.

Mr Biswadeep Gupta, Chairman, CII, Eastern Region, said that the problems of trade and transit with Bangladesh could be overcome with the help of TIR Carnet systems advocated by the UN in the form of TIR Carnet Convention administered by IRU.

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