Dibrugarh, Oct 5: After seven decades of silence, Dibrugarh is a port again.
In a historic first since Independence, a cargo vessel loaded with 540 MT of methanol set sail from Bogibeel Terminal on Monday for Bangladesh — reviving a river route that died with Partition.
The methanol, manufactured by Assam Petro-Chemicals Ltd. at Namrup, is headed to Pangaon Port, Dhaka. The barge DLB Patkai, pushed by tug Kushal Konwar, will navigate 768 km on National Waterway-2 along the Brahmaputra to the international border and then via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route to Narayanganj — a total journey of 1,300 km.
The voyage was flagged off by Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at Bogibeel. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined virtually.
The sailing is being billed as a proof-of-concept for the Brahmaputra as a viable commercial corridor to the world. If successful, regular methanol exports from upper Assam to Bangladesh will follow. The sailing was made possible after new customs and immigration complexes were operationalized at Bogibeel and Dhubri.
Recalling Dibrugarh’s lost glory, Sonowal said, “Our grandparents grew up hearing the steamer whistle at Dibrugarh Ghat. For 70 years, that whistle fell silent. Today, a ship leaves Dibrugarh for the world once again. The river never failed us. What it lacked for decades was the will to revive it.”
Sarma said, “Assam’s own product, made in Namrup, is now travelling to an international market on Assam’s own river. The Northeast is no longer a frontier. It is India’s gateway to the East.”
Dibrugarh was once eastern India’s busiest river port — with Calcutta steamers docking here since 1856, the Dibru-Sadiya Railway starting from its ghat in 1882, and daily steamer services by 1913 carrying tea, timber and passengers. The 1947 Partition cut the route.
The Centre says the turnaround is real — cargo on national waterways has soared from 18 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 218 million tonnes in 2025-26. More than Rs 6,800 crore is being pumped into Northeast waterways, including NW-2, a ship repair facility at Pandu and last-mile link to Pandu Port.
“Every ton we move on the river means less fuel burnt and fewer trucks on the highway,” Sonowal said, adding that India is pushing waterway linkages with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
