Kolkata, Nov. 4 -- Cargo handling at the Petrapole land port on the India-Bangladesh border gradually returned to normal on Wednesday after a dispute between rival workers' groups over the distribution of loading and unloading work disrupted operations for nearly 48 hours.
The dispute exposed an escalating tussle within the BJP-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) over control of work allocation at the strategically important trade hub in North 24 Parganas. The rival groups reportedly owe allegiance to Union Minister of State for Shipping Santanu Thakur and state Food minister Ashok Kirtania.
Thakur had attempted to intervene on Monday, proposing to divide the BMS workforce into two groups and allocate separate shares of work. However, the proposal drew objections from a section of the union leadership, which questioned his authority to divide the organisation.
Differences also emerged over distributing work among BMS factions and other trade unions.
The clashes took place in front of Petrapole police station, with police allegedly looking the other way, leaving over 180 Bangladeshi trucks stranded in India.
"We had to write to senior officials to ensure the deadlock did not continue," said Kartick Chakraborty, secretary of the Petrapole C&F Agents Welfare Association.
He said most of the stranded trucks had been unloaded by Wednesday. By 7 pm, over 300 Indian trucks had reached Benapole, while 78 trucks had entered India.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.