Border lines: Bangladesh – India

Driving east from Kolkata along the historic Jessore Road — between centuries-old trees saved from felling by public resistance — the two-lane national highway is jammed with trucks, buses, cars, people and animals. They’re all making their way toward Petrapole ICP, India’s busiest Integrated Check Post (ICP), along the Bangladesh border. 

The check point connects trade and commuters with Bangladesh’s Benapole Land Port — the largest land port in Asia. Petrapole ICP accounts for $2.5 billion worth of bilateral trade annually, and the Petrapole–Benapole crossing was responsible for almost 65% of the land-based trade between India and Bangladesh as of 2020. 

Petrapole ICP opened in 2016 and introduced modern customs, immigration and border security to speed up the movement of cargo and people. 

However, traversing the border is slow. After stopping for a local train to cross the highway at Bongaon, it takes an average of 138 hours for a truck’s shipment to cross the border once it reaches Petrapole — including 28 hours transferring cargo from Indian to Bangladeshi trucks. By comparison, trucks need less than six hours to cross borders in other regions.

Truck drivers waiting in line at Petrapole describe unpredictable transit times measured in days rather than hours. This is caused by a mismatch in handling capacity on either side of the border: Petrapole can handle up to 750 trucks per day, but Benapole can only clear 370. This makes for an uncertain commute. 

Despite wait times, approximately 2.5 million people cross Petrapole-Benapole every year.