Shillong-Dhaka bus service soon

Dawki becomes the first border trade point in the country to get hooked into the BSNL’s CellOne network. 

The Land Customs Station (LCS) at Dawki along the India-Bangladesh border in Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya and in the process became the first border trade point in the country to get hooked into the BSNL’s CellOne network. Switching to the BSNL mobile service at Dawki today, union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh said it might be construed to be a prelude to the Government of India’s plan to start a bus service between Meghalaya capital Shillong, and Dhaka via Dawki ‘hopefully by the end of 2008’ for revival of the British era surface communication route between the two places.

Mr. Ramesh said that Dawki, one of the most important border trade points with Bangladesh, had been brought under the BSNL mobile phone network as part of the Central government’s plan to improve connectivity and infrastructure in land border trade points in the country. He further stated that all border trade points in the country would soon be brought under the BSNL mobile phone service network, thanks to the Central government’s decision to allow expansion of mobile phone network till 500 km of the country’s international border. However, three months back, no mobile phone network was allowed till 10 km distance from the international border.

The Government of India had earmarked Rs 900 crore to be spent in the next three to four years for creating modern infrastructure like state of the art trading facilities, connectivity, fast banking and foreign exchange facilities in 14 Land Customs Stations (LCS) in the country, including Wagah on India-Pakistan border, Nathula on India-China border, Moreh on India-Myanmar border, and four trade point on India-Nepal border, including Raxol, seven on India-Bangladesh border at Dawki, Sutarkhandi, Agartala, Kawarpuchaih (Mizoram) and three others on West Bengal-Bangladesh border, including Petropole.

Out of the total amount earmarked for the LCS development project, Rs 350 crore will be spent in the first phase in improving facilities at the border trade points at Wagah, Moreh, Raxol and Petropole.

The country’s volume of bilateral trade with Bangladesh was Rs 6800 crore in the last financial year, and out of this, 80 per cent was confined to the border trade points on West Bengal-Bangladesh border. Meghalaya with eight LCS happens to be the second most important area for India-Bangladesh trade.

Three top most border trade points in Meghalaya are at Borchora, Ghasuapara and Dawki. The trade volume of bi-lateral trade through Dawki point amounted to Rs 48 crore last year as against Rs 100 crore through Borchora and Rs 50 crore through Ghasuapara. The trade bilateral through Dawki basically confined to the export of coal to Bangladesh. The minister announced that an electronic weigh bridge would be constructed at Dawki within the next nine months by the Central Warehousing Corporation with Rs 10 crore to be provided by the Government of India. The construction of weigh bridge would help Meghalaya Government to earn at least Rs 10 crore more per year. The state government is currently losing Rs three lakh a day in terms of revenue as coal trucks are carrying overloads, taking advantage of absence of a weigh bridge.

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