<p>Traders of India and Bangladesh have demanded a trial run of vessels on the Gomati river this month to operationalise the Indo-Bangla protocol route between Sonamura in Tripura's Sipahijala district and Daudkandi in the neighbouring country, officials said.</p>.<p>The 93-km long Sonamura-Daudkandi waterway was included in the list of Indo-Bangla protocol (IBP) routes in May this year.</p>.<p>A high-level team of officials of the Bangladesh Shipping Ministry surveyed the riverine protocol route on Tuesday, Sonamura sub-divisional magistrate Subrata Majumder said.</p>.<p>But they did not meet Indian officials during the tour, he said.</p>.<p>"Of the 90-km stretch, around 89.5 km is in the neighbouring country. Export-import traders of the two countries proposed a trial run of barges through the protocol route," he said.</p>.<p>Indian traders have also discussed the prospects of the protocol route with their Bangladeshi counterparts through a video conference.</p>.<p>All Tripura Merchant Association's general secretary Sujit Roy said they have interacted with the Bangladeshi businessmen on the issues of exporting and importing goods through the riverine route.</p>.<p>"Traders of the two countries believe that the transport cost will come down, if the protocol route is operationalised. We have proposed a trial run to expedite the operationalisation process," he said.</p>.<p>The Tripura government had launched a floating jetty on the Gomati river as part of the Indo-Bangla international inland waterways connectivity project on July 4 this year. </p>
<p>Traders of India and Bangladesh have demanded a trial run of vessels on the Gomati river this month to operationalise the Indo-Bangla protocol route between Sonamura in Tripura's Sipahijala district and Daudkandi in the neighbouring country, officials said.</p>.<p>The 93-km long Sonamura-Daudkandi waterway was included in the list of Indo-Bangla protocol (IBP) routes in May this year.</p>.<p>A high-level team of officials of the Bangladesh Shipping Ministry surveyed the riverine protocol route on Tuesday, Sonamura sub-divisional magistrate Subrata Majumder said.</p>.<p>But they did not meet Indian officials during the tour, he said.</p>.<p>"Of the 90-km stretch, around 89.5 km is in the neighbouring country. Export-import traders of the two countries proposed a trial run of barges through the protocol route," he said.</p>.<p>Indian traders have also discussed the prospects of the protocol route with their Bangladeshi counterparts through a video conference.</p>.<p>All Tripura Merchant Association's general secretary Sujit Roy said they have interacted with the Bangladeshi businessmen on the issues of exporting and importing goods through the riverine route.</p>.<p>"Traders of the two countries believe that the transport cost will come down, if the protocol route is operationalised. We have proposed a trial run to expedite the operationalisation process," he said.</p>.<p>The Tripura government had launched a floating jetty on the Gomati river as part of the Indo-Bangla international inland waterways connectivity project on July 4 this year. </p>