Ministry weighs feasibility of coal shipments from Meghalaya to Bangladesh via Assam’s Pandu port

Subject: Geography

Section: Economic geography

Context:

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is now exploring the possibility of moving coal shipments from Meghalaya’s mines to Bangladesh via Pandu port.

Details:

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has appointed an operator for Pandu and Dhubri ports.
Coal would be moved from Meghalaya to Assam, and then to Bangladesh’s Srirajganj port, via the Brahmaputra river in India, and Jamuna river in Bangladesh.
India is dredging the waterway to make it navigable.
Use of waterways to transport material to the neighbour would improve access, reduce the time taken, and bring down logistics costs.

Dhubri port:

Dhubri port is an important river port in Assam.
This port is located in Dhubri town on the banks of the Brahmaputra River.
This port is located on the National Waterway 2.
It is important for the port terminal. It is located near the Bangladesh border at the western end of National Waterway 2.
It is currently used for commodity transit movement to Bangladesh.
Dhubri is also being looked at as an option to improve connectivity between the North-East and the Indian mainland.
A trial run, carrying 200 tonnes of rice, was done on the Patna–Pandu route (of 2,350 km) using National Waterways 1 (Ganges), the India–Bangladesh Protocol route (through Khulna, Narayanganj, Sirajganj, Chilmari), National Waterways 2 (Brahmaputra) through Dhubria and Jogighopa. The journey took 25 days.

Pandu port:

Pandu Port is a river port in the Indian state of Assam, serving Guwahati.
This port has been developed on the bank of the Brahmaputra river.
The port is the most important and the largest river port in Assam state.
Many passenger ships at the port are anchored with the tourists. However, the state government has now allocated funds for the modernization of the port for national waterway development projects.
In order to arrange a ship anchorage, a naval terminal or permanent jetty has been formed.
The Port is included in the port of call agreement between India and Bangladesh.