After three long years, gratification started to return to the Bhomra Land Port in Satkhira with the rapid increase in fruit imports due to easy communication contributed by the Padma Bridge.

Due to various complications, fruit imports have been near zero since 2021 at the port, but recently have started to increase significantly, said the port officials.

The Padma Bridge and the sincerity of the port and customs officials also played a big role in this latest improvement, they said.

Earlier, Bhomra Port played an important role in importing fruits from the neighbouring country of India. But after the Covid-19 situation, fruit imports almost came down to zero.

A considerable number of traders were also slowly shifting towards the other ports as they were not getting any rebate on the additional TR weight. Fruits were being imported by evading government revenue by tampering with the weight at those ports. However, there was no scope for weight tampering at the Bhomra Land Port.

With the recent inauguration of the Padma Bridge, the distance between Dhaka and Bhomra port is much closer than any other port in the country. At the same time, the location of this port is also close to India’s Kolkata.

As a result, the associated costs of traders including transportation are comparatively less to import through Bhomra port. Despite higher government revenue payments, an increasing number of traders are slowly turning towards the Bhomra land port due to lower associated costs.

Traders there said the land port's distance from Kolkata is only 65 kilometres while Benapole, the country's mainland port in Jashore, is 86km away from the West Bengal capital.

Acting President of Satkhira Bhomra Land Port C&F Agents Association Sheikh Ejaz Ahmed Swapan said, "We are trying to increase the import and export activities of our port. About 10,000 people are involved in the port’s development. After a long time, fruit import through Bhomra port is really getting promising.”

Deputy Commissioner of Bhomra Land Port Customs, Enamul Haque said, “Every day import is increasing through Bhomra port, which is positive.” This at the same time increases the government revenue collection and improves the living conditions of the local workers, he said, adding that, there is no room for cheating on the weight scale.