Crisis looms as flood disrupts cargo vehicles

The number of cargo vehicles with export commodities arriving at the container depots in Chattogram has declined as the Dhaka-Chattogram highway is inundated at several places.

Product supply through covered vans at the 19 private depots in Chattogram has declined by 35 per cent within a day. Business persons say several parts along the Cumilla-Feni stretch of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway have been submerged under water, interrupting vehicular movement. This has resulted in severe traffic congestion on the highway. As a result, commodity supply had declined.

According to the figures of the Private Container Depot Association, the 19 private depots received some 3,188 vehicles carrying export products in 24 hours from Thursday 8:00 am to Friday 8:00 am, which declined to 2,060 the next day.

Almost 90 per cent of the products exported through Chattogram port are handled by the private depots. The exporters store the products in the depot sheds, which later are loaded on cargo vessels after custom clearance. Besides, some 38 types of import products are released from these ports.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Container Depot Association secretary general Ruhul Amin Sikder said several parts of the Dhaka-Chattogram highways have been flooded. As a result, delivery of goods through roads has decreased. The number of covered vans and other cargo vehicles coming to these depots declined by more than one thousand in 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the port authorities have slowed down releasing imported goods due to the uncertainty over transportation.

Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) executive president Mohammad Hatem told Prothom Alo, “Vehicular movement along the Dhaka-Chattogram highway has been snapped since Thursday. So we could not send any cargo truck to Chattogram port in the last two days. The situation is so grave that even the truck owners do not want to rent out their trucks to send reliefs to Feni.”

He further said, “This is the third time since July that the supply of export products has been disrupted. If the flood situation extends, then the readymade garment entrepreneurs will be facing a new crisis.”

Product supply from Chattogram to different parts of the country has literally collapsed due to the flood. Hundreds of vehicles have been stuck on different points of the roads since yesterday, Friday. So it’s taking more time than normal to supply products from Chattogram. Export and products are usually transported through covered vans, lorry, truck and several small and heavyweight cargos.

Some 96 per cent of the products imported and exported through the Chattogram port are transported through the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, 3 per cent through railways and 1 per cent through maritime routes.

Apart from the roads, the railways are also inundated in several places, snapping the rail link with Chattogram. As a result, it hadn’t been possible to deliver products by train either.

The transport owners associations are saying the total number of cargo transport delivering goods from Chattogram is nearly 300,000. Some of these are stalled at the container depots in Chattogram waiting for custom clearance. Besides, some of these vehicles are stuck on the roads. At least 1,000 vehicles were stuck on the roads on Thursday.

However, some of these vehicles finally reached their destinations lately as flood water receded a little in some places. Despite that, several hundred vehicles were still stuck on the roads as of Friday afternoon.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Chattogram Product Transport Owners Federation president Abu Bakkar Siddiqui said the roads were inundated from Lalpol in Feni to Chauddagram in Cumilla. Some of the covered vans and trucks were able to reach the port as the water level decreased to some extent on Thursday. However, it’s taking more time to transport products.

Chattogram Inter-district Good Truck and Covered Van Owners Association vice-president AKM Nabiul Haque said water rose on different stretches of the highway again on Friday. He said, “Nobody will risk transporting goods unless the water recedes.”

A crisis has emerged in the supply of consumer products in the nearby upazilas of Chattogram. It takes far more time than usual to deliver products from Raozan, Fatikchhari and Khagrachhari as these are flood affected areas. Besides, the drivers are also struggling due to the ditches created by flood waters.

It has been learnt that the Chattogram-Khagrachhari and Fatikchhari-Ramgarh roads have been flooded. There was knee-high water on different parts of the Chattogram-Khagrachhari road. As a result, cargo vehicles are moving slowly. In addition, vehicular movement on the Fatikchhari-Ramgarh road was almost completely shut down Friday. There was knee-high water on the roads on Friday morning.

Chattogram district Truck, Covered Van and Mini-truck Owners Group vice-president Md Emdadul Haque told Prothom Alo, “We are struggling to deliver products even inside the districts due to the sudden flood. A number of cargo transports are jammed on the highway to Khagrachhari. Many are not being able to deliver products due to the prevailing flood situation.”

The decline in the supply of products also has affected the largest consumers’ product market in the country in Khatunganj of the port city. The import products reach the market in Khantunganj mostly through the land ports. Products from Hili, Bhomra, Sonamasjid ports come to Khatunganj. Besides, some imported products from the Chattogram sea port are also released from the Khatunganj market.

The traders and other relevant persons there said very few of the cargos which passed the border on Tuesday reached the Khatunganj market on Wednesday. However, no cargo vehicles arrived on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the market of relief materials saw a boost in sales as the demand for these products skyrocketed.

Some fear a crisis in product supply if the situation remains unchanged for a few more days.

Chaktai Industries and Traders Association joint general secretary Ahsan Khaled told Prothom Alo, “The cargo vehicles which left from different land ports, including the Hili, Bhomra and Benpole ports, on Wednesday are yet to reach the Chattogram port. In the meantime, the demand for relief products skyrocketed. As a result, the stock of some commodities are running low in the markets.”

* This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu