Nagarbari port, one of the largest riverports in Bangladesh, is mainly used to facilitate the transport of imported fertiliser and coal from Chattogram to 16 northern districts of the country.

However, activities at the port situated on the banks of the Jamuna river in Bera upazila of Pabna are being disrupted by poor navigability, raising concerns about whether farmers will get a smooth supply of fertiliser in the upcoming Boro season.

This is because the waters have receded amid the ongoing dry season, allowing only lighter vessels that carry small amounts of goods to dock. Previously, larger vessels that can carry loads of up to 1,200 tonnes were able to reach the port.

As such, the flow of fertilisers and coal has dropped by more than 50 percent over the past few weeks, according to authorities of Nagarbari port, which was constructed at a cost of Tk 563 crore.

Besides, the navigability is so poor that even lighter vessels with carrying capacities of just 700 tonnes are struggling to arrive after unloading the goods from larger vessels that are parking nearby, they said.

"Usually, four or five vessels carrying fertiliser would reach Nagarbari port every week. But now, only two vessels are arriving weekly," said Sagar Hossain, a representative of Abdul Zabbar Mollah Trading.

He informed that a total of 1.30 lakh sacks of fertiliser were supposed to reach Nagarbari port by the end of November. However, only 65,000 sacks arrived at the port as of November 20.

"No vessel can easily reach Nagarbari port due to the sudden fall of the water level in Jamuna river," Hossain said, citing how one of their vessels got stranded at the river's Mollar Char point last week.

"So, we are being forced to unload the cargo onto lighter vessels, and that increases the transportation cost," he added.

Nagarbari Port Officer Md Abdul Wakil said the navigability problem will likely persist for the next three months or so, adding that dredging work are ongoing to improve vessel movement

"Due to disruption of vesselsmovement, fertiliser and goods carrying vessels are unloaded onto small cargo vessels on the river so transportation costs increased," he added.

"Each larger vessel carries a minimum of 1,000 tonnes of goods but we have no scope to directly reach Nagarbari port from Chatrogram port carrying such as load," said Tonmoy Kundu, a representative of Sheikh Brothers.

Due to the navigability crises, the loaded vessels can go as far as the ports in Aricha, Piajkhali and Mollar Char point, where they are unloaded by lighter vessels, he added.

During a recent visit to Nagarbari port, it was found that only a few workers were present as most of the vessels were yet to arrive.

Md Bappy Fakir, son of Nagarbari port lease holder Abdul Gani Fakir, said about 3.51 lakh sacks of fertiliser were unloaded in September while 4.74 lakh sacks were unloaded in October.

"Due to poor navigability, most of the vessels are going to Nawapara port in Jashore instead of Nagarbari port. As a result, the newly built Nagarbari port is bringing no profit," he added.

Sudam Babu, a fertiliser trader based in Nagarbari port, said they are having to spend extra on transporting fertiliser from Nawapara port instead of Nagarbari port.

"We need to spend about Tk 30,000 for using a truck to carry fertiliser from Nagarbari port to any northern district. But the cost is about Tk 55,000 if the same mode of transport is used to carry fertiliser from Nawapara port," he added.

Md Mostafa Kamal, manager of buffer stocks at the Bogura regional office of the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, said around 12 to 15 lakh tonnes of fertiliser are needed in the Boro season.

"We have sufficient reserves of above three lakh tonnes of fertiliser for November. So, there is no scope for a fertiliser crisis," he added.

Bangladesh used 57.7 lakh tonnes of chemical fertiliser in fiscal year 2023-24, up by 2.3 percent compared to the previous year, with urea accounting for 46 percent of total usage.

The government has set a target to import 52 lakh tonnes of fertiliser in the current fiscal year, comprising 20 lakh tonnes of urea.

According to the agriculture ministry, the country's fertiliser imports stood at around 5 lakh tonnes by early September this year.

The peak season for Boro cultivation usually runs from December to March, with the demand for fertiliser during this period reaching up to 18 lakh tonnes.

Hasan Ahmed, executive engineer of the dredging department at the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, said the Aricha-Nagarbari channel has silted excessively this year after removing floodwater.

"So, we are struggling to keep navigability in this channel," he added while informing that they expect to finish the necessary dredging work by January.

An officer of Nagarbari port said the peak season for fertiliser transportation is from September to January, when 1.2 lakh to 1.5 lakh tonnes of fertiliser are unloaded. However, only roughly 50,000 tonnes of fertiliser have arrived in the September-November period this year.