Movement of export-import cargo-laden trucks and other vehicles through the Dhaka-Chittagong highway was disrupted severely as a devastating flood in Bangladesh has inundated roads, highways, homes, and farmlands since late last week.
Until now 11 districts in Bangladesh are now underwater where 1.23 million families have been affected totalling 5.7 million people while at least 23 have been killed. The flood situation further worsened on Monday amid huge rainfall.
As the country’s prime trade lifeline, Dhaka-Chittagong highways swamped and stayed underwater in many places, the trucks and other vehicles carrying in and outbound cargoes can move slowly and thus stay idle in traffic jams hours after hours. In some places, traffic congestions of 30 to 40 kilometres have been created.
Port sector officials say delivery of boxes from Chittagong port and inland container depots has fallen drastically while the depots are getting a significantly lesser number of export goods laden trucks during the last couple of days.
Ruhul Amin Sikder (Biplob), secretary general, of Bangladesh Inland Container Depot Association said on Monday the 19 depots received only 1,124 export goods laden trucks from Dhaka and elsewhere against receiving some 3,500 trucks in a normal day.
Also on the day only 393 TEUs of import goods laden containers have been delivered from the depots as the importers show reluctance to take delivery of goods amid floods. The depots now house 8,290 TEUs of export goods laden boxes, 8,643 TEUs of import goods laden trucks and 49,924 TEUs of empty containers.
“We are not getting adequate export cargo carrying trucks,” said Biplob and added that presently they are sending cargoes to the port from the previous stock.
On Sunday, only 1,647 import containers were delivered from the Chittagong port, almost one-third then the usual. On the day some 38,000 TEUs of containers had been lying at the port yards while 16 vessels were waiting at the outer anchorage and 11 were loading and unloading boxes at port jetties.
The box delivery situation further fell as the rail authority suspended the movement of trains on Thursday last since the rail lines in many places went down the flood water. The port authority thus allowed the importers to carry train and road-designated boxes from Chittagong port to Pangaon Inland Container Terminal in Dhaka by waterways.
An official of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (BFFA) said there is no obstacle in transporting cargoes to and from the port and depots.
“But as the highways swamped, the export cargoes cannot reach to the depots where they are usually stuffed to the boxes for shipment,” he said.
Chowdhury Zafar Ahmed, general secretary of, Truck and Covered Van Owners’ Association said some 3,500 trucks and covered vans remained stuck on the way to Dhaka and Chittagong.
Al Nadeem general secretary, of the Chittagong Prime Movers Owners’ Association, also confirmed over 2,000 prime movers remained stranded in different parts of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway carrying boxes.
Sharar Nayel
Asia Correspondent
