Taking stock of B’desh: Visa woes slow Petrapole border’s road to normalcy

A new cargo gate, Maitri Dwar, is expected to facilitate trade. (Photo: ISHITA AYAN DUTT)

A steady stream of passengers  is seen heading towards the Petrapole terminal, the largest land port in South Asia, along the India-Bangladesh border, about 80 km from Kolkata. Many bound for Bangladesh are carrying heavy blankets, oddly defying the time of the year. Meanwhile, a dhaki crossing into India signals that Durga Puja is just around the corner.

The political upheaval in Bangladesh, which led to the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, had weighed heavily on the passenger movement initially. Trade was briefly halted, and the border post on the eastern front remained quiet.

Two months