After Kalipuja (Diwali), the possibility of tasting Hilsa by Bengalis during the feast of ‘Bhaifonta’ (Bengali Bhaidooj) is high as Dhaka gave the message to keep the Hilsa harmony intact again. The Ministry of Commerce in Bangladesh has promised to send Hilsa again to India.
After stopping the entry of Padma Hilsa to India’s market in 2012, Sheikh Hasina’s government promised to send the largest quantity of Hilsa as a Puja gift this year. But they failed to send it within the stipulated time. The Hilsa traders requested the Commerce Minister of Bangladesh, Munshi Tipu, to send Hilsa to West Bengal. A consignment of over 3,000 tonnes of Hilsa from Bangladesh is expected to reach Kolkata on Wednesday, a day after the ban on the catching, sale and transportation of the Padma Hilsa ends in the neighbouring country, a State government official said.
A directive signed by the Bangladesh Deputy Secretary level official, Tania Islam, was released on Tuesday from the Dhaka Secretariat. It has been said that during the breeding season of Hilsa, catching Hilsa in Bangladesh from October 4 to 25, taking it elsewhere, marketing and selling was completely banned.
In all, Dhaka gave clearance to 115 Hilsa exporters in Bangladesh to send 40 metric tonnes of Hilsa to India. Of that, 4,600 metric tonnes of Hilsa, only 1,080 metric tonnes have arrived by October 4.
Apart from the Petrapole border, a small number of Hilsas also entered the country through Tripura. After that, catching Hilsa was banned in Bangladesh.
There were doubts whether Dhaka would agree to send Hilsa again after Puja or not. The Hasina government has been sending Hilsa to India for the last three years. In these three years, the relations between Dhaka and New Delhi have fluctuated in various incidents. However, it is believed that Sheikh Hasina’s government sent a positive diplomatic message to the country before and after Puja’s assurance to send Hilsa.
Bangladesh Commerce Minister Munshi Tipu was in touch with Syed Anwar Maqsood, secretary of the Fish Importers Association in West Bengal. Anwar requested the minister to send more Hilsa. In the Indian market, 30-40 metric tonnes of Hilsa is needed for the daily demand.
Read all the Latest News , Breaking News and IPL 2022 Live Updates here.
Comments
0 comment