Jumbangla Desk: Brigadier General (Retd.), Adviser to the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Textiles and Jute, said that various initiatives have been taken to turn Mongla Port into a world-class safe and modern seaport. M Sakhawat Hossain. He said this during a visit to Mongla port on Wednesday (October 6) afternoon, during an exchange of views with journalists and officials of Mongla port.

Pointing out that Mongla Port will be upgraded to international standards, the advisor said, Mongla is the second largest seaport in Bangladesh. The seaport is very important considering the geographical location. The port is also making an important contribution to the country's economy. The road distance from the capital Dhaka to the port is only 210 km. Apart from this, the port has rail and sea connections with Dhaka and other parts of the country. So there is no chance of delaying this port. Several projects are underway to make Mongla Port more modern and world-class and some projects have been taken up for future development.

He said that the ongoing projects such as construction of safe channels, proper handling of seagoing vessels and procurement of auxiliary vessels for Mongla port to conduct emergency rescue operations in inclement weather, modern waste and oil removal management at Mongla port, upgradation of Mongla port, dredging of inner bar of Pashu channel, Mongla The project of construction of two incomplete jetties of the port is in progress.

The projects under approval process are – Expansion and Modernization of Mongla Port Facilities Project, 5-year Conservation Dredging Project in Mongla Port Channel, River Governance in Pashur Channel and Feasibility Study Project for Further Expansion of Mongla Port.

Sakhawat Hossain said, if all these projects are implemented, the annual capacity of Mongla port will increase. The channel will achieve a depth of 8.5 cd. It will be possible to handle ships of 10 meters depth at Mongla port. Mongla Port will have an annual handling capacity of around 8 lakh TEUs containers, 4 crore metric tonnes of cargo and 30 thousand vehicles.

At this time , the advisor directed the revenue department to set up scanners at Mongla port at the earliest to make port operations more dynamic and to encourage importers and exporters . Mentioning the need for dredging to increase and preserve the navigability of the port, he also said that an initiative will be taken to purchase two dredgers for the Mongla Port Authority.

Mongla Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral Shaheen Rahman, Mongla Port Authority Deputy Director (Public Relations) Md. Makruzzaman and other officials of the port and officials and employees of the Ministry of Shipping were present.

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