A riverine route from Maya of India to Godagari in Rajshahi is going to be inaugurated on February 12.
As part of the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route Number-5 and 6, the Sultanganj route under Aricha-Rajshahi-Sultanganj-Maya-Dhulian river route will be inaugurated by the State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury M.P.
After the inauguration of the route, the international trade to and from Sultanganj River port of Godagari and Maya Port under Sagardighi Police Station under Murshidabad of West Bengal of India will start.
Director of the Ministry of Shipping Rafiqul Islam informed us that at 12-00 noon on the inaugural day, a public meeting will be held at Sultanganj High School playground. All are set to inaugurate the route.
State Miniter for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury will attend the meeting as the chief guest. Among others, the meeting will be attended, by AL Presidium Member and Mayor of RCC AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, Member of Parliament of Rajshahi-1 constituency Omar Faruk Chowdhury, Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pronoy Verma and Chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authorities Commodore Afir Ahmed Mostafa.
Through the port, raw materials for making cement, stones, marble, sandstones and various foods will be imported from India while various textile goods, fish, jute and other agricultural products will be exported to India.
The distance from Sultanganj to Maya Ghat is only 17 kilometres and the Sultanganj river port is situated only one kilometre from Dhaka-Rajshahi-Chapainawabganj-highway. On the other hand, the Maya river port is connected with No-34 National Highway under Jangipur of Murshidabad district of India.
The transport cost of the goods through the Sultanganj-Maya route will be less in compared to the cost of road transport, sources said.
It is learnt that before the India-Pakistan war in 1965, the transport of goods continued through Sultanganj- Maya and Godagari-Lalgolaghat.
