It finally came but rotten

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.

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 Sept 14.

They entered only after India’s clearance but a number of days had already gone by.

Most of the onion rotted as the trucks were stuck at Ghojadanga for about a week. “So, traders had to count huge losses,” he said.

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 said 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.

After the abrupt Sep 14 ban, India on September 19 decided to allow export of some onion which was handed over to customs on the day the ban was imposed.

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 Chittagong port early next month.

Source: UNB