The unrest in Bangladesh has left a section of exporters, truck owners and goods handlers anxious, with many fearing that the violence across the border will push them further into uncertainty.
There was no movement of trucks across the Petrapole border in North 24-Parganas’s Bonagaon on Friday, a weekly holiday in Bangladesh.
However, on Saturday, a few rolled across the Benapole-Petrapole border amidst a sense of unpredictability because of the fresh violence that has erupted in the neighbouring country.
“A few hundred truck drivers who crossed over to Benapole carrying goods on Thursday have been calling up to say how insecure they have been feeling. They are unable to offload items and return to India,” said Kartik Chakraborty, the secretary of the Clearing and Forwarding Agents Staff Welfare Association in Bongaon.
“The norm is that after unloading, one has to return the same day. These drivers are now stuck because Dhaka’s unrest has halted all unloading activities in Benapole,” Chakraborty said.
Petrapole, an integrated checkpost, remains one of the busiest among the 10 export corridors in Bengal.
Different types of goods, including fruits, vegetables, edible oil, machine parts, poultry feed and boulders, enter Bangladesh from these land customs stations (LCS).
Several exporters said trade has been hit since the change of guard in Bangladesh, with the interim government struggling to contain inflation and the dollar price.
With violent protests erupting across the national capital since Thursday and the nation plunging into renewed turmoil, the exporters said things were likely to get even worse.
Senior officials of the Land Ports Authority of India and their counterparts in the BSF held meetings with a section of transporters and exporters in Bangaon on Friday to assess the situation on this side of the border.
The meetings continued even on Saturday, amidst efforts to instil a sense of
security on both sides of the border outpost.
“We believe this situation will continue to remain fragile and tense till the general elections in February. Earlier, we would send around 400 truckloads of fabric to Bangladesh. This has slipped to close to 300 recently. We fear this count will slide even further with the unrest that has gripped the country now,” said Promod Nahata, an exporter.
“I know expats engaged in handling imports of readymade garments in Bangladesh are returning. One of them returned on Thursday. Two others are scheduled to return on December 26. Things will probably get worse from here,” Nahata said.
Truck owners said they have been receiving calls from worried drivers expressing their unwillingness to take consignments across the border.
“Several truck owners in Hilli in South Dinajpur, Changrabandha in Cooch Behar and Mahadipur in Malda are unsure about the future of their operations. Drivers have been calling up to say they won’t cross the border in this state of unrest,” said Sajal Ghosh, the secretary of the Federation of West Bengal Truck Operators’ Association.
Several transporters said they would like to wait and see how things play out before sending over the orders to Bangladesh.