Trade resumes through Hili Land Port after 11-day closure

BALURGHAT: After an 11-day suspension due to the Eid-ul-Azha holidays, weekly offs and server issues on the Indian customs side, trade through the Hili Land Port in South Dinajpur resumed on Monday afternoon, bringing back normalcy and activities in the port.

According to port officials, a total of 43 trucks loaded with goods were sent to Bangladesh on Monday. The key exported items included lentils (masoor and moong), cumin, ginger, groundnuts and husk, among other commodities. However, no goods were imported from Bangladesh on Monday.

The trade halt had been in place from June 5 to June 14 due to the Eid holidays and weekend breaks. Although operations were scheduled to resume on Sunday, June 15, technical glitches in the Indian customs server delayed the process by another day.

Nazmul Haque, General Secretary of the Hili Land Port Importers and Exporters Group, stated: “Trade was suspended from June 5 to June 14 for Eid-ul-Azha. We expected operations to resume on the 15th but the Indian customs server remained down. Finally, export activities restarted on Monday afternoon.” Meanwhile, cross-border movement of passport holders remained normal. Traders indicated that while operations have resumed, it may take a couple more days for activities at the port to fully return to pre-holiday levels.