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Indian truck drivers enter Benapole land port without health check up


Bangladeshpost
Published : 15 Mar 2020 09:24 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 09:31 PM

Roknuzzaman, Benapole

Though Bangladeshi passengers are not being allowed to enter Indian territory through Benapole Land port, Indian truck drivers Sunday entered the port with trucks and goods without any testing of coronavirus though several thousand people have so far been diagnosed with the virus infestation and 84-died in India recently. It is alleged, health workers at Benapole Land port remained indifferent to taste Indians of the virus.

It is learnt, the concerned Health Department doctors and paramedics were checking health and testing for coronavirus for the passport holder passengers who are entering to Bangladesh from India but hundreds of truck and drivers and helpers who are carrying goods from various provinces of India are entering the Bangladeshi territory without any health check up or without testing for coronavirus. As a result, the risk of spreading coronavirus at Benapole land port area remained high and people are panic-stricken in the land port area. Meanwhile, imposing ban on entering the passport holder passengers to India, incurs the government a loss of revenue of Taka 38 lakh daily.

Ahsan Habib, Officer-in-charge of Benapole Immigration Check post informed, every day 7,000 to 8,000 passengers used to enter India daily through the port. Due to corona panic, the entrance of passengers to India remained suspended and from Saturday none of the passport holder passengers from the country has been allowed to enter to India. Only the Indian passport holders who entered into Bangladesh before 13 March and the Bangladeshi passport holders who entered India during the period are being allowed to visit through Benapole-Petrapole Immigration. On Saturday, nearly 300 Indians returned. Benapole Immigration was testing those passengers using the Thermo scanners.

The import and export of goods through the ports is still continuing and the Indian truck drivers and helpers were entering the territory of Bangladesh without any health check-up, the port areas remained highly susceptible to corona infection.

Abdul Jalil, Deputy Director of Benapole Land Port informed, so far, they did not get any instruction to suspend import and export of goods through the port and import and export of goods through the port remained normal so far. He further said, Medical Team Officials were checking health condition of all returnees from India.