India Bangladesh expanded river trade opens up chances for locals

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India and Bangladesh recently signed the next addendum to the Protocol of Inland Normal water Transit and Trade (PIWTT) towards the end of Might, a step welcomed by traders found in both countries. The arrangement adds an additional route between Sonamura, in India’s Tripura condition, and Daudkandi in Bangladesh to the existing eight protocol routes - along which vessels can travelling across international borders. It also declares Jogigopha in India’s Assam express and Bahadurabad, Bangladesh, as new ports of phone along the Kolkata- Silghat and Karimganj- Silghat routes.

With 54 shared rivers India and Bangladesh have significant possibilities to harness the trade and financial benefits associated with inland waterways. The expansion of the routes and new ports should start the waterways to smaller traders bringing agricultural products and other elements between Bangladesh and India’s landlocked northeastern claims.

Cross border river trade between your two countries is normally governed by the PIWTT, first signed in 1972. The subsequent addendums in 2018 and 2020 have included fresh ports of phone and routes. During 2018-2019 India exported about 2.4 million tonnes of cargo to Bangladesh through Protocol Routes. Out of the, 97% is made up of fly ash - toxic residue left from burning up coal - and the others included steel cargo, steel coil/rail and stone chips.

Waterways lower costs

Shipping goods simply by river can save time and money. Since Dhubri started to be a port of call in 2018 along the Kolkata-Silghat protocol way, waterways have grown to be a preferred path for boulder exporters from Bhutan to Bangladesh.

“The opening of trade route via waterways between Dhubri, India and Chilmari, Bangladesh saves us about INR 700 per tonne (USD 9),” said Atowar Rahman, a stone trader located in Dhubri, Assam while speaking to researchers at CUTS International during field research on transboundary waterways. Rahman has been exporting boulders to Bangladesh since 2014 through Golakganj near Dhubri. Procedural delays at the border post, poor road conditions, load constraints and delays increase the cost of undertaking trade via the property route.

Others are now wanting to trade boulders, stones and other non-perishable commodities via the region’s vast waterways. There is a downside. The new work at home opportunities have encouraged persons to collect boulders, typically by dredging rivers and banking institutions. Weak enforcement of restrictions in this regard has resulted in indiscriminate mining with anticipated effect on river ecosystem in lengthy term.

Trilateral cooperation

Dealers and export associations in Bhutan and Assam voiced their demand to declare Jogigopha as being a Port of Phone during the field study conducted by CUTS International. These discussions were executed within a job on Inclusive Places for Trans-boundary Trade via Waterways and Simple CONDUCTING BUSINESS under a regional programme called Trans-boundary Rivers of South Asia (TROSA), which is maintained by Oxfam and reinforced by the Government of Sweden.

Traders found in Bhutan hoped the port found in Jogigopha would improve trade and cargo handling conveniences. Jogigopha is already an determined site for the development of a multi-modal terminal in Assam with National Highway and broad-gauge railway connections, which run adjacent to the terminal location.

The current road connecting the highway to Dhubri terminal is narrow and congested. Likewise the river pilots declare the main channel no longer reaches the port because of extreme siltation. On the other hand, the Jogigopha terminal is situated on the proper of the main navigable channel and has good depth condition.

The shallow waters of the Brahmaputra river along protocol routes 1 and 2 (Kolkata-Silghat and again) have so far prevented the movement of large barges in Bangladesh, specifically during winter months, because they need good navigable depth after loading cargo.

Healthier river ecosystems are critical to keep up channel depth and navigability. Trade- dialogues and decisions on waterways need to acknowledge these ecological measurements and incorporate them in formal trade discussions. This can help make the cross-border and regional trade procedures and organization investments, including infrastructure advancement, more environmentally audio and responsible.

Opening for smaller players

The decision to allow shallow draft mechanised vessels along protocol routes has opened up several opportunities for small players. Waste products from cotton and other textiles from Bangladesh are used greatly in Assam and additional Northeastern claims of India to create mattresses and blankets. The cotton waste is imported via terrain through Mahendraganj (Meghalaya) and Mankachar (Assam). This involves loading/unloading at some locations, adding to the price of transportation significantly.

The cotton waste importers in Dhubri have asked whether empty barges coming to take stones from Dhubri can bring cotton waste on its onward trip. Such opportunities must be additional explored to ensure that cross-border trade via waterways turns into more profitable.

How locals can benefit

Apart from dealers and exporters, CUTS experts talked with maker communities and women’s groups found in Dhubri, South Salmara-Mankachar districts of Assam and adjoining regions of the Garo Hills found in Meghalaya. The theory was to check out the prospects of using waterways for local together with cross-border trade.

For instance, cashew, areca nut, ginger and pineapples are stated in plenty in the Garo Hills. Included in this, ginger and areca nut will be exported to Bangladesh via Mankachar. Ladies in the hills and in the char (riverine islands) areas get excited about the value chains of the agricultural products, generally in processing.

At the moment, there are zero business links with cashew dealers in Bangladesh. For export purposes the raw material has to be procured in bulk for processing, that will, subsequently, provide more employment opportunities to local women.

In the same way, Rowmari and Chilmari will be two upazillas (sub-divisions) in Kurigram district of Bangladesh, near the Indian border. The territory is quite fertile and persons in these areas grow rice, surface nut, maize, potato, pulses and tobacco. Most of these products can be purchased locally and no-one has got explored the potential to market on the Indian area yet. A significant limitation to cross-border trade is definitely low level of production and lack of suited vessels to ply the protocol routes.

With an increase of opportunities for cross-border trade of the products, addititionally there is dependence on new avenues to strengthen women’s involvement and initiatives to promote responsible value chains. Lessons from different regional initiatives on women’s economic empowerment - such as the International Women’s Production Agency-led Do No Injury RESEARCH STUDY in the Pacific and Oxfam’s Gender Transformative & Responsible Business Expenditure in South East Asia (GRAISEA) - could inform some of these initiatives.

Next steps

As the development of agricultural commodities is seasonal and of low quantity, bulk transportation may well not be feasible. One method to overcome that is to possess compartments of varying capacities on boats so they can carry multiple commodities. Boats involved in transboundary trade also needs to have a valid sign up certificates showing details of the owner, valid study certificates, competency certificates for the vessel grasp and driver, and identification cards for the crew members duly qualified by the protocol authorities.

Hatsinghimari Ghat, which is positioned halfway between Dhubri and Chilmari, is an excellent place for loading agricultural commodities getting produced in the Garo Hills and near by areas. For customs clearance the vessel must head to Dhubri, about 4-5 hours upstream.

Consequently, Hatsinghimari Ghat can be viewed as as an ‘extended interface of phone’ for loading cargo beneath the existing provisions of the protocol and important customs formalities can be undertaken there aswell.

Linking people, market segments across borders

Along with declaring extra strategic spots along the India-Bangladesh transboundary waterways mainly because port of calls including extended port of telephone calls, market linkages need to be established over the border.

To be able to provide further momentum, CUTS, along using its local partners, has been organising dealers’ meetings involving potential exporters and importers from India and Bangladesh and Nodi Boithak (river meetings) to determine better linkages between dealers and regional communities/producers. These community-led discussions have supplied opportunities for small-scale dealers and other tiny and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to share their aspirations and increase their voices for meaningful engagement in such inland drinking water trade decisions.

Organising weekly market segments in the mode of India-Bangladesh border haats in addition has emerged as a significant demand to re-build socio-cultural connections among the persons living in the islets of the Brahmaputra river.

Realising these suggestions through appropriate coverage and regulatory mechanisms, including cross-border multi-stakeholder dialogues, can benefit not only marginalised communities but micro and small enterprises at the neighborhood level, thereby boosting the local economy.
Source: https://www.thethirdpole.net

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