Bangladesh’s largest land port, Benapole, will suspend import and export operations for six consecutive days to observe the Durga Puja festival, the country’s major Hindu celebration. Customs clearance of goods and passenger movement between Bangladesh and India will continue, and special arrangements have been made to allow hilsa fish exports.

Emdadul Haque Lata, General Secretary of the Benapole C&F Agents Association, confirmed that clearing agents at India’s Petrapole port notified them that trade would be halted from September 28 to October 2 for the festival. With Bangladesh’s weekly holiday on October 3, the total disruption will last six days.

Karthik Chakraborty, General Secretary of the Petrapole Clearing Agents Staff Welfare Association, said import and export activities will resume on Saturday, October 4. He also confirmed that hilsa exports will continue under special arrangements.

Benapole handles roughly 300 to 350 trucks of imports daily from India, with about 100 trucks worth of goods exported to India. Around 90 percent of Bangladesh’s imported goods pass through this port.