Importers are incurring losses as most of the 925 metric tonnes of onion that came from India through Satkhira’s Bhomra land port in the last three days are rotten, reports UNB.
On Monday, 96MT onion in four trucks entered Bhomra through Ghojadanga land port of India. Earlier, 721MT of Indian onion arrived in 31 trucks on Saturday and 108MT in five trucks came on Sunday.
Mostafizur Rahman Nasim, general secretary of Bhomra Land Port C&F Agents Association, said 40 onion-laden trucks were stranded at the port. They had clearance but could not cross the border after India’s export ban on 14 September.
They entered only after India’s clearance but a number of days had already gone by.
Besides, more than 200 onion-laden trucks are still stuck in India without any clearance. Some of the trucks are going back and some are being sold locally by the traders.
Bhomra land port revenue officer Mohsin Hossain told UNB that 925MT onion entered the country through the port in the last three days.
“Today some more truckloads of onion are likely to come from India,” he added.
Two days after the ban, Bangladesh shared its “deep concern” with India, saying it undermines the discussions that took place in October last year and January this year.
State minister for foreign affairs M Shahriar Alam said Bangladesh requested India to withdraw the ban as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the government has decided to import onions from multiple sources to ensure enough supply of the popular kitchen item. Dhaka has already taken steps to import onions from Turkey and Egypt, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The consignment is expected to reach Chattogram port early next month.
