Fallout of Poor Navigability
Fuel transport cost doubles as Chilmari depot shifted
Cost of fuel transport from Chilmari floating depot to other places of Kurigram district doubles as the depot has been shifted due to poor navigability of the Brahmaputra River in the dry season.
Usually the transport cost of 9,000 litres of diesel from Chilmari to 35 kilometres away Kurigram town is Tk 2,000 but in the current dry season, the cost has gone up to Tk 4800, said sources at filling stations.
Filling station owners of the district are now collecting diesel and other fuels from Parbatipur Depot in Dinajpur as the alternative is much cheaper.
As water level of the Brahmaputra has drastically fallen, cargoes cannot reach the floating oil depot at Chilmarighat and it forced authorities to temporarily shift the depot to Bangmara ghat, two kilometres away.
Now oil has to be collected in drums from barges and brought to the lorries on pushcarts as the one-kilometre earthen road from the new station is too unfit for movement of lorries.
"We want to collect diesel and other oils directly from the barges of the floating oil depot. But in the dry season, the carrying cost goes up to three times due to complicated transport process. Sandy and kucha road, labour-cost and wastage of oil are the main causes behind the high cost," said Aminul Islam, manager of Sekendar Filling Station in Kurigram town.
The transport cost of 9,000 litres of fuel from Chilmari to Kurigram town stands at about Tk 4,800 during the dry season while it is only Tk 3,500 from Parbatipur Oil Depot in Dinajpur, he said.
Taposh Chandra Roy, manager of Panir Pump and Sons, another filling station in the town, echoed the same.
They demanded construction of suitable metalled roads so that lorries can reach the terminals when the floating depot is transferred according to need.
"There are four barges of Jamuna Oil Company and Meghna Oil Company in Chilmari Floating Oil Depot. Now the floating depot is kept in Bangmara ghat, two kilometres off Chilmarighat river port. If one kilometre pucca road is constructed, it will be possible to collect oil directly from barges of the depot,” said Monjur Kader, operations officer of Jamuna Oil Company.
Keeping in view the upcoming boro season the Brahmaputra River should be dredged immediately so that farmers can easily collect diesel from the oil depot, Chilmari UNO Md Enamul Haque said.
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