Exporters to Bangladesh have started mounting pressure on the administrations of their respective districts for trade to resume at the earliest through the land borders.
On Thursday, representatives of at least three associations of exporters and clearing agents submitted memoranda to the administrations in Malda, Cooch Behar and South Dinajpur seeking immediate resumption of trade.
In Bengal, there are six land ports along the India-Bangladesh border through which goods move between the countries. These are at Changrabandha (Cooch Behar), Fulbari (Jalpaiguri), Hilli (South Dinajpur), Mahadipur (Malda), Ghojadanga and Petrapole (North 24-Paraganas). After the lockdown began, the Bengal government had halted trade at land ports.
Altogether, goods worth over Rs 27,000 crore is traded through these ports.
The items that are exported through these ports include spices, rice, eggs, sugar, railway sleepers, cotton, chemicals and boulders.
“As trade has not taken place for around 50 days now, we are facing huge losses. Every day, goods worth Rs 1.5 crore are traded at the Mahadipur border. Hundreds of people are directly and indirectly associated with the border trade and they are jobless now,” said Bhupati Mondal, the secretary of the Mahadipur Clearing and Forwarding Agents’ Association.