Agartala, June 10 (TIWN): The Akhaura Export-Import Association on Tuesday stalled all Indo-Bangla trade operations along the Akhaura International Checkpost. The strike came after acute crisis faced by truck operators under Agartala Lack Custom Station Truck Owners’ Association following a regulation from the Transport Department which barred parking of trucks on the Akhaura Road.

Asked about the issue, Akhaura Export-Import Association secretary Habul Biswas said that trade operations were stalled following failure of truck operators to provide vehicles. “The truck owners have denied providing us any vehicle since they were repeatedly subjected to fines amounting upto Rs. 5,000 for parking vehicles on the roadside along Akhaura Road. We had apprised the local administration and the local MLA of the situation. Nothing has happened so far”, Biswas said. He added that the Akhaura ICP doesn’t have any separate parking facility which was a technical default on the part of the authorities at the very outset of launching the facility.

“We have no other way but to stall operations for the time being”, Biswas said. He added that a meeting is expected to be held with Transport Minister Manik Dey to address the issue. “All trade operations would be stalled in the ICP till a solution is chalked out regarding the parking crisis”, he added.

According to agreement between the export-import traders and truck operators, the former are supposed to provide parking facility for the hired vehicles. “Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Manik Lal Das, Mayor of the Agartala Municipal Corporation Dr. Prafullajit Sinha, Director of Industries and Commerce and the local MLA held a meeting with us on last Thursday. They assured that a truck lay-by would be constructed in South Ramnagar area for parking of the trucks. However, the meeting couldn’t finalize our course of action during the interim timeframe”, Export Import Association Secretary Habul Biswas said.

The trade association leader further stated that despite several proposals of parking lay-by sites including a proposed landfill on a lake adjoining the Integrated Check Post (ICP), temporary parking in the unused dumping yard no. 1 etc, the authorities couldn’t conclude on anything specific.

Sources inside the Department for Industries and Commerce said that over 200 loaded trucks enter the Indian territory through Akhaura International Check Post, amounting to a cumulative business worth Rs 1.5 crore on a normal day. The central and state governments are apprehended to incur losses of approximately Rs 6.5 million per day on customs duty and sales tax.