Mongla & Chattogram (Chittagong) Port

Subject: International relations

Section: International relations

Context:

India is exploring new routes of cargo shipment to its North-Eastern States using Bangladesh’s ports as trans-shipment hubs.

Details:

Two ports in Bangladesh — Mongla & Chattogram (Chittagong) — are being tapped as possible transit hubs.
- This means that goods will be shipped from the Kolkata port (Syama Prasad Mookerjee port) to these two ports and from there, they will be shipped via road to the Indian States, Assam (the lower Assam region), Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
- This would reduce the travel time by almost half, and the costs by nearly one-fifth.
- Cargo movement, partly through waterways and partly via roads, is a six-to-eight day process.
Travel to the North-Eastern States via the ‘Chicken’s Neck’ region — also called the Siliguri Corridor — takes at least 9 to 12 days; and this includes a 10 – 15 per cent damage of goods because of road conditions.

Concept:

Mongla Port:

Mongla, also called Mongla Port, formerly Chalna Port, port city, southwestern Bangladesh.
Formerly located at Chalna, about 11 miles (18 km) upstream on the Pusur River, the port is the main seaport for the country’s western region.
It is a sea port of Khulna city which is located near to the north.
It is the second largest and second busiest seaport of Bangladesh.
Mongla port lies close to the shore of Bay of Bengal and Pashur river.
Due to the increasing congestion in Bangladesh’s largest port in Chittagong, many international shipping companies have turned to Mongla as an alternative.
The port’s chief exports include jute, leather, tobacco, frozen fish, and shrimp. Major imports include grain, cement, fertilizer, coal, and wood pulp.
Mongla is also a gateway for tourist ships traveling to the largest mangrove forest of the world, the Sunderbans. It is also marked as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Chittagong or Chattogram Port:

It is one of the important seaports of Bangladesh, located in the region of Chittagong hill tracts.
It is the main seaport of Bangladesh and is located on the bank of the Karnaphuli River.
The port of Chittagong was known as Shetgang as early as the 4th century BC, and it received ships from the Middle East and China.
Almost 90% of Bangladesh’s exports and imports are now handled by the Chittagong Port.
In the colonial era, the Chittagong Port was one of the largest ports of eastern India through which cargo was carried to the borders of Myanmar through railways and roadways.
Due to the sea port’s close proximity with North-Eastern Indian states, the port facility has the potential to significantly boost economic activity in the North-East Indian states.