1km to go before goods trucks go through Darshana

Only 800 metres of road in India and about 200 metres in Bangladesh need to be widened before the Darshana customs station turn into a full-fledged land port. 

Import and export of goods by highway, through the port, will be possible very soon as the work is almost done, said related sources. 

Traders of the two neighboring countries are eagerly waiting for the inauguration of the highway to start transporting goods by trucks.
 
Import and export by the railway have been going on through Darshana customs station since 1962. Therefore, all the necessary infrastructure except a highway already exists at there.

Darshana customs station was declared a land port in 2002 to enhance the bilateral trades between Bangladesh and India. 

Facility to transport goods by the highway through Darshana customs station will ease the long tails of goods-laden vehicles at the nearby Benapole land port in Jashore. Traders in Bangladesh and India suffer huge losses due to the congestion of trucks at Benapole-Petrapole station. 

Adding highway facilities to Darshana customs station will also reduce the transportation costs, which would ultimately benefit the traders and bring down the market price of imported products. 

According to a report by National Board of Revenue published in 2015, more than two dozen types of consumer products like fish-pots, fruits, wheat, onion, garlic, rice, popcorn, and fish feed are imported through this station by railway wagons.   

Constructing the motorway will also increase revenue collection at Darshana customs station. The economic structures of Chuadanga will develop further as a result of the employment opportunity created for hundreds of people in the area. 

However, a parking space for the goods-laden trucks near the land port still needs to be developed.  

Darshana land port officials confirmed that the port will soon start to import-export goods through highway. Moreover, process to acquire land has been started to build a truck-stand in Jaynagar of Darshana. 

Meanwhile, the customs station has been digitalized with ASYCUDA Word system that makes all the information related to import-export proceedings available on internet. 

About 2,000 passport holders from Bangladesh and India pass through Darshana customs station daily by train and bus, the authority told The Business Standard. 

Darshana C&F (Caring and manufacturing agency) President Atiur Rahman said the completion of the project to widen the road through Darshana customs station will create a large space for exchange of goods, and employment. 

"We are eagerly waiting to start transportation through the highway at Darshana land port," he added. 

Jahangir Hossain, the assistant commissioner of Darshana customs station said that the two neighboring countries showed a huge interest in improving the ports in Bangladesh's Darshana and in India's Gede by completing the highway. 

Teams from both the countries visited the construction site last month to observe progress in the work and expressed hope of launching the highway very soon, he added. 

Nazrul Islam, the deputy commissioner of Chuadanga district, said, a letter seeking approval to launch the highway through Darshana-Gede land port had been sent to the related ministry. 

A police camp will be set up in Darshana customs station very soon, he added.