Presentation made at 3rd Northeast Connectivity Summit,2016 on Connectivity through inland waterways by Mr.Mahboob Ahmed,Managing Director,Shipwright resources ltd,Dhaka

1. CONNECTIVITY
THROUGH INLAND
WATERS
Emerging
Developments
Mahboob Ahmed FCILT
Bangladesh

2. CONNECTIVITY WITH MAINLAND INDIA-
BANGLADESH-NE INDIA & BEYOND TO
SOUTHEAST ASIA
 India-Thailand Myanmar (ITM) Trilateral Highway
project underway, so is Asian Highway. Bangladesh
positioned itself to be linked with ASHWY
 Mainland India is well connected with NE by road,
railway links are being extended / planned to cover
greater part of NE.
 Inter state road connectivity is being developed &
improved
 Newer Airports are being conceived in the region for
quicker access by governments & businesses

3. WHY INLAND WATERWAYS CONNECTIVITY IS
BEING PURSUED ?
 Development of large infra-structure projects hinges
on smooth transportation of ODC’s
 Industrial machineries & equipment also require
economic & safe transportation
 Movement of basic raw materials, construction
materials require commercially viable logistics &
transport solutions
 Movement of food grains in bulk

4. OPTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL, HOUSEHOLD &
CONSUMER GOODS & OTHER TIME BOUND
PERISHABLE CARGO MOVEMENT IN THE
PROTOCOL ROUTE
 Currently inland waterways is not a
viable option for movement of such
cargo either way.
 Why ?

5.  Ashugonj Port is not ready yet to
handle large scale movement of
commercial goods.
 It takes about 15 days for transshipment
cargo to reach Agartala from Kolkata
through Protocol route or vice versa
 Limited navigability in the Kushiara river
connecting Barak, in the lean season
making Zakigonj –Karimgonj entry-exist
redundant

6. 6
INDO – BANGLADESH
PROTOCOL ROUTES
B A N G L A D E S H
A S S A M
M E G H A L A Y A
MANIPUR
MIZORAM
TRIPURA
HALDIA
KOLKATA
DHUBRI
PANDU
TEJPUR
SILGHAT
JOGIGHOPA
SHISHUMARA
DHULIAN
KARIMGANJ
RAJSHAHI
NARAYANGANJ
DHAKA
LAKHIPUR
Bay of Bengal
I N D I A
31
31C
DISPUR
40
51
SHILLONG
54
AIZWALAGARTALA
36
37
37
44
53
BAGHABARI
CHILMARI
BAHADURABAD
SIRAJGANJ
ZAKIGANJ
FENCHUGANJ
SHERPUR
MARKULI
AJMIRIGANJ
BHAIRAB
BAZAR
CHANDPUR
BARISAL
KAUKHALI
MONGLA
KHULNA
CHALNA
NAMKHANA
GODAGARI
ARICHA
ASHUGANJ
Myanmar (Burma)
IMPHAL
KOHIMA
NAGALAND
53
34
35
2
6
41
31
Legend
Kolkata - Guwahati/Pandu ...... 1535 km
Kolkata - Karimganj...................1318 km
Dhulian-Rajshahi...........................78 km
Protocol route distances
N
BHANGA
AKHAURA
DAIKHAWA
Legend
Declared National waterway
Proposed National waterway
Protocol route
Road
Rail
NH 51
ANGTIHARA
SYLHET
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
AGARTALA
6
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10. OPTIONS FOR FUNDAMENTAL
IMPROVEMENT IN THE INLAND
WATERWAYS CONNECTIVITY
THROUGH PIWTT ROUTE

13. EMERGING ALTERNATIVE
OPTIONS FOR COMMERCIAL
MOVEMENT OF CARGO
BETWEEN NE & THE REST OF
INDIA
 Option provided by Coastal shipping
 Option provided by BBIN
 Together they now provide an opportunity of
multimodal transport of transit cargo which is
commercially viable

14. AGARTALA AS THE GATEWAY
TO THE NORTH EAST AND
BEYOND FOR MOVEMENT OF
CONTAINERIZED CARGO
 Agartala can be connected with Pangaon ICT
by container trailer under BBIN instead of
Ashugonj for onward shipment to Kolkata/
eastern seaports of India under the new Coastal
shipping SOP

16. CONNECT AGARTALA/ NE THROUGH
ANOTHER INLAND CONTAINER TERMINAL EAST
OF DHAKA IN NARAYANGONJ

18. NEWS OF INTEREST

21. THANK YOU