N Bengal exporters hit hard

Manas R Bannerjee

MALDA, Nov. 14: A fresh violence in Bangladesh has marred exports of various items from land customs stations of north Bengal to that country, officials said today.Barring Mahadipur land customs station in Malda district, exports activities have come to a near-halt in all the other land customs stations of the region. According to Customs officials, export and import remained suspended at Changrabandha in Cooch Behar and Hilli in South Dinajpur for the third day today. “Exporters are not interested to continue business under the present circumstances. The ongoing transport strike in Bangladesh has hampered their business to a large extent,” said Mr Sanjit Majumdar, joint secretary, Hilli Exporters’ and Customs Clearing Agents’ Association.He added that onion export to Bangladesh had been hit hard. Mr Ujjal Saha, spokesperson of Malda Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce, said: “Some lorries loaded with fruits have been diverted to the undisturbed Mahadipur LC station in Malda.”“We are facing huge financial losses due to the ongoing strike in Bangladesh”, said Mr Uttam Karmakar, president, Changarabandha Exporters’ Association. “The Bangladeshi importers said they are not receiving lorries from India fearing that the protesters might damage those,” said a Hilli exporter. Lorries loaded with export items, such as oranges, apples and dolomite-loaded lorries from Bhutan have remained stranded at the Changrabandha port since last three days, exporters said. Import from Bangladesh has also remained suspended.India imports soap, cosmetics, fast food items and waist cotton, among other products, from Bangladesh.