Import and export operations at Dhanua Kamalpur land port are closed for 6 months of the year. The government is losing revenue due to this. On the other hand, 8,000 unemployed workers are living in inhuman conditions.
It is learned that the Dhanua Kamalpur land port in Bakshiganj upazila of Jamalpur is now in a crisis of existence. The import and export activities of this port, which was closed for seven days during the last Eid-ul-Azha holiday, have not resumed for almost three months. As a result, on the one hand, the government is losing potential revenue of crores of taka; on the other hand, about 8,000 workers and businessmen dependent on the port are in extreme trouble. The entire port is in a state of chaos due to the ban on stone imports for a long time, and hundreds of stone crusher machines are lying idle.
Traders complain that they are incurring losses day by day while doing business at this port due to imposition of duty on soil and sand that comes with stones, additional charges, poor condition of roads on the Indian side, and internal disputes between importers and exporters. As a result, they have been forced to stop importing. On the other hand, customs authorities say that despite repeated requests to traders to return to imports, they are not bringing stones due to fear of losses.
According to sources at the Land Customs Station and Port, the port’s import-export activities were closed for about five months in the 2024-25 fiscal year and about six months in the 2025-26 fiscal year. Activities have also been closed so far in the current 2026-27 fiscal year. This means that this land port, one of the most promising in the country, remains practically inactive for a significant part of the year.
Stone trader Md. Mahfuzul Haque said it would be difficult to resume imports unless the duties and additional charges on clay that comes with stones are stopped.
C&F agent Bikash Dutta said, “Import and export operations at this port are closed for most of the year. It is not possible for workers to support their families all year round by earning three to four months a year.”
Meanwhile, Dhanua Kamalpur Land Port Revenue Officer Md. Abul Hossain Akand said that work is underway to repair the broken roads on the Indian side. In addition, imports have been stopped due to the lack of trade among traders due to losses.
