Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday flagged off a cargo vessel carrying 540 metric tonnes of methanol from Dibrugarh to Dhaka, marking the first shipment from the Upper Assam town to a foreign destination since Independence.
The vessel, 'DLB Patkai', was flagged off from the Bogibeel Terminal, with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joining the programme virtually.
The shipment marks the revival of Dibrugarh's river trade nearly 70 years after its river ghat ceased operations.
The methanol, produced by state-owned Assam Petro-Chemicals Limited (APCL) at Namrup, is bound for Pangaon Port in Dhaka. The vessel will travel around 768 km along National Waterway-2 on the Brahmaputra in India before reaching the Indo-Bangladesh border and proceeding along the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR).
The total journey from Bogibeel to Narayanganj in Bangladesh will cover around 1,300 km.
Addressing the programme, Sonowal said the sound of steamers at Dibrugarh Ghat had been part of the town's past.
"Our grandparents grew up hearing the steamer whistle at Dibrugarh Ghat. For 70 years, that whistle fell silent, and the ships stopped coming," he said.
Describing the shipment as the beginning of a new chapter, Sonowal urged the youth of Assam to look towards the Brahmaputra as a source of opportunity.
"The world is no longer far away for us... It is downstream," he said, adding that Dibrugarh, known as the Tea Capital of India, was reclaiming its place as a major river port.
The Union minister said the Bogibeel terminal, the customs and immigration complex and fixed-schedule cargo services under the 'Jalvahak' scheme were helping restore the town's river connectivity with modern infrastructure.
He also highlighted the environmental and economic benefits of river transport, saying every tonne of cargo moved by waterways meant lower fuel consumption and fewer trucks on highways.
India is working with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar to develop regional waterway links, he added.
Sarma described the occasion as a proud day for Assam, saying the state's own product, manufactured at Namrup, was reaching an international market through its river network.
The Northeast was no longer a frontier but India's gateway to the East, he said.
The voyage is being viewed as a test of the Brahmaputra's potential as a commercially viable freight corridor connecting the Northeast with overseas markets, officials said.
The voyage is being viewed as a test of the Brahmaputra's potential as a commercially viable freight corridor connecting the Northeast with overseas markets, officials said.
The shipment became possible following the recent establishment of customs and immigration complexes at Bogibeel and Dhubri, they said.