Dibrugarh’s river trade returns after 70 years: First post-Independence cargo from Assam heads to Bangladesh | India News
Dibrugarh on Monday resumed international river trade after nearly seven decades, with Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal flagging off a barge carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol from Bogibeel Terminal to Dhaka, marking the first cargo shipment from upper Assam to a foreign port since Independence.The methanol, produced by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd (APCL) at Namrup, will travel around 768 km along National Waterway-2 on the Brahmaputra before reaching the India-Bangladesh border and continuing through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route. The voyage from Bogibeel to Narayanganj in Bangladesh will cover around 1,300 km.The shipment is being seen as a test of the Brahmaputra’s potential as a commercially viable freight corridor connecting the Northeast with overseas markets. Regular methanol shipments to Bangladesh are planned, with the movement enabled by recently established customs and immigration facilities at Bogibeel and Dhubri.The voyage also revives Dibrugarh’s river trade nearly 70 years after its historic river ghat shut down. The ghat closed in 1956 as tea shipments shifted to rail, ending regular river bookings from the town.“Our grandparents grew up hearing the steamer whistle at Dibrugarh Ghat. For 70 years, that whistle fell silent and the ships stopped coming,” Sonowal said. “Today, a ship leaves Dibrugarh for the world once again. The river never failed us. What it lacked for decades was the will to revive it.”The vessel DLB Patkai, pushed by the tug Kushal Konwar, will carry the cargo to Pangaon Port in Dhaka. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the flag-off ceremony virtually.Sarma described the shipment as a significant moment for the state, saying, “Assam’s own product, made in Namrup, is now traveling to an international market on Assam’s own river. The Northeast is no longer a frontier. It is India’s gateway to the East.”The revival of Dibrugarh’s river connectivity has been supported by the Bogibeel passenger and cargo terminal, which opened in February 2024, along with customs and immigration infrastructure and the Jalvahak cargo incentive programme.The route has seen growing activity in recent years. Tata Steel barges reached Pandu through Bangladesh in February 2022, while the river cruise vessel MV Ganga Vilas travelled from Varanasi to Dibrugarh through Bangladesh in 2023.The government is also seeking to expand inland waterways as an alternative freight network. Cargo movement on India’s national waterways rose from 18 million metric tonnes in 2013-14 to 218 million metric tonnes in 2025-26, according to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
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More than Rs 6,800 crore is being invested in waterways across the Northeast, including the development of National Waterway-2, a ship repair facility at Pandu and last-mile connectivity to Pandu Port.Sonowal said the economic and environmental case for waterways was also significant. “Every ton we move on the river means less fuel burnt and fewer trucks on the highway,” he said.The government is working with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar to develop regional waterway links, with the Dibrugarh-Dhaka shipment potentially opening another freight route for products from the Northeast to international markets.
