In a move to demonstrate the effectiveness of multi-modal cargo movement in eastern South Asia, the maiden voyage of a steel cargo-laden barge from Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port in Bengal's Haldia to Pandu Port in Guwahati was flagged off by India's Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal through what is being called in official jargon the Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR).

It is transporting a consignment of 1798 tonnes of finished steel products by Tata Steel Limited in Jamshedpur, transiting Bangladesh, and showcasing the harnessing of seamless river-sea connectivity. 

The two barges, named DB Abdul Kalam and DB Kalpana Chawla, are carrying 900 tonnes each. After unloading the consignment at Pandu, the barges will return with industrial coal cargo for discharge at Kolkata Dock System. The barges will move along National Waterway 1 (river Ganga), transiting Bangladesh, and finally on National Waterway 2 (river Brahmaputra), NDTV said. 

A MoU was also signed between Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SMPK) and Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) to set up a streamlined logistics chain for the movement of feedstock for a petrochemical complex of BCPL at Lepetkata near Dibrugarh in Assam.

The MoU will help set up a streamlined logistic chain for movement of feedstock like naphtha, propane, pentane etc. from Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) for Lepetkata in Dibrugarh. On its return leg, the finished products and by-products are to be routed for distribution through the port for consumption of the both domestic and international markets. The project also envisages the setting up of a tankage facility for storing imported feedstock of BCPL like naphtha, propane, pentane , etc., at Haldia for which HDC, SMPK will provide land and railway connectivity.

Sonowal said on the occasion, "...the government has envisaged an integrated approach towards communication that is efficient, economical & environment friendly. A synergy between inland waterways and ports is being worked out to serve as a multi-modal logistic hub for handling major EXIM a domestic cargo."

(SAM)