Petrapole-Benapole trade in non-perishable general cargo will remain suspended from October 17 to 23 for the Durga Puja holidays, temporarily interrupting truck movement through one of the most important India-Bangladesh land trade corridors. The movement of perishable goods and passengers will continue as usual during the seven-day shutdown, officials said.
Petrapole land port head Kamlesh Saini said the movement of general cargo would be suspended during the holiday period and would resume on October 24. The decision covers non-perishable consignments moving through the Petrapole land port in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district and its counterpart, the Benapole land port in Bangladesh.
An official at Bangladesh’s Benapole land port said the suspension was linked to holidays at both the Indian and Bangladeshi ports. The coordinated closure means that trucks carrying categories of cargo covered by the suspension will not be processed through the crossing during the seven-day period.
The Petrapole-Benapole route handles a major share of overland trade between India and Bangladesh. Hundreds of trucks carrying agricultural commodities, textiles, machinery and raw materials cross the border daily, making the port a critical part of the movement of goods between the two countries.
The temporary halt applies specifically to general cargo that is not perishable. Perishable goods will continue to move, as will passenger traffic, although the officials cited in the report did not provide details of any separate operating arrangements or capacity limits for those movements during the holidays.
Extended closures at the land port require traders and transport operators to plan consignments around the suspension. Traders usually clear consignments in advance before such shutdowns to avoid delays and congestion at the port, according to the report. The advance movement of cargo is intended to reduce the accumulation of trucks and goods when regular processing resumes.
The closure also separates the port’s cargo operations by category rather than stopping all cross-border movement. While general cargo will remain suspended until October 24, passenger movement and the transportation of perishable goods are scheduled to continue through the holiday period. No further changes to the arrangements were announced by the officials quoted in the report.
