Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route
Topic: Transport and Communication in India · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route is an inland waterway route under a 1972 agreement between India and Bangladesh. Under it, Indian cargo boats can sail through Bangladesh's rivers. It links Kolkata and Haldia in West Bengal to Assam. The North-East is joined to the rest of India only by a narrow land strip near Siliguri. This route gives the region a water path to the sea and to Kolkata's ports.
Example
A barge loaded at Haldia can sail through Bangladesh's rivers, enter the Brahmaputra and reach Assam. This joins the Ganga-Hooghly waterway in West Bengal with the Brahmaputra waterway in Assam.
Don't confuse with
- National Waterway 2: the Brahmaputra stretch from Sadiya to Dhubri, which lies wholly inside India. The Protocol Route runs through Bangladesh to connect Indian waterways.
Related concepts
- Inland waterways
- Inland Waterways Authority of India
- National Waterways Act 2016
- National Waterway 1
- National Waterway 2
- National Waterway 3
- National Waterway 4
- National Waterway 5