THE Indian government’s request for transshipment of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) to Tripura state from Meghalaya using Bangladesh road system appears to be a new dimension that Delhi wants to add to the ongoing transit facilities. The existing transit agreement does not cover transit by road and India is insisting to sign a new agreement to this effect.
News report said Indian High Commission in Dhaka has sent a letter to Foreign Ministry on August 1 seeking the facility to use Bangladesh road system in the Sylhet region. The reason it cited is that the Indian Highway (NH-44) in the region, which carries petroleum to Tripura remained closed because of poor condition exacerbated by heavy rain.
But the question is whether the road condition in our northeast particularly in the Sylhet region is better than the Indian roads and how such heavy load may be sustained when our roads are not made for inter-state cargo traffic. At the end our roads may similarly collapse in heavy rains and from impact of heavy traffic. This may cause serious inconveniences to the movement of our local and inter-district transport system. The proposal moreover seems to be highly critical without mention of how long such facility will have to continue at a time when the load bearing capacity of our road system is quite limited.
Under the proposal India wants to carry LNG from Meghalaya to Tripura state. If Bangladesh agrees 50 trailers having 7 tonnes capacity each will run everyday with LPG to be supplied by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). Trailers will enter Bangladesh through Daoki-Tamabil border and reach Kalishwar of Tripura crossing Chaltapur border of Bangladesh. India wants to use 140 km roads within Bangladesh.
India is now enjoying river transshipment facilities carrying goods from Haldia Port in Kolkata to Ashuganj River Port. They transport the goods from Ashuganj by road to Agartala in Tripura state. The existing transit protocol reportedly does not cover road transit.
Transit for India through Bangladesh remains highly controversial from the beginning and more so in case of road transit using heavy vehicles. Transit by waterways was taken relatively safe and then by railway is treated as less damaging. Moreover the current transshipment fees through waterways suggest India is only interested to use our facilities without paying a reasonable fee for it. Who will pay for our roads and repair the damages?
We must say our policy makers must carefully weigh the adverse effect of such facilities before making any decision. We want to offer all cooperation to India but we must protect our interest first and not be swayed away by any pressure.
