Sandwip declared a river port

Sandwip in Chattogram has been declared a river port, making it the only coastal river port in the country.

The Ministry of Shipping announced this in a notification on Tuesday (December 10). The notification was published in the gazette on Wednesday.

According to the notification, boundaries of the river port extend from the highest water level of the shore around Sandwip Island to 50 meters towards the land part during normal flooding. The canals within that boundary of the Sandwip coastal area will be included in the boundaries of the river port.

Meanwhile, in a separate gazette on the same day, the government appointed the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) as the custodian of the Sandwip coastal river port.

Including Sandwip, the number of river ports in the country has reached 54. Among those, the four major river ports are Dhaka (Sadarghat), Narayanganj, Chandpur and Barishal.