The West Bengal-Jharkhand border has resumed for truck traffic for interstate trade, officials announced on Saturday, following a 24-hour closure. Due to floods in some south Bengali districts, the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) released water from its dams along the Jharkhand state line on Thursday night, prompting the West Bengal government to block the border.
An official from the Jharkhand administration stated, “The inter-state border has opened and thousands of goods-laden trucks stranded on NH 2 and NH 6 have left for West Bengal.”
West Bengal truck drivers reported that although the border is opened, the 20–25 km long line of stuck trucks may take some time to move.
The three-day closure caused thousands of trucks—including those transporting perishable commodities from northern states—to become stranded, and it even had an impact on emergency services.
“Mamata Banerjee caves in to the insurmountable pressure created by the consolidated efforts of @HMOIndia, @NHAI_Official, @MORTHIndia and the resilience of the People of Jharkhand who started agitating against her for blocking the vehicles going from Jharkhand to WB,” said Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, in response to the development.
“West Bengal has finally let the vehicles that were left stranded at the entry point to move in. The BJP leader stated, “After I brought attention to this issue, things started moving quickly, and I thank everyone for stepping up and doing their part to end this illegal obstruction.”
“Mamata Banerjee has developed the bad habit of moving forward one step and backward four steps these days. Every action she took as TMC Supremo and an administrator after the RG Kar episode backfired. Adhikari continued, “This is just the beginning for Mamata Banerjee; she must continually pulling back and retreating.”
“Mamata Banerjee will bear a heavy price for her decision to lock the borders. West Bengal will be cut off from the western, northern, and southern regions of India if Jharkhand locks its borders. I’ll tell Didi to use caution. During a press conference, JMM general secretary and central spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya stated, “Goods vehicles are not responsible for bringing flood to your state.”
The DVC clarified on Thursday that the technical experts committee of the DVC, along with the water resources departments of West Bengal and Jharkhand, unanimously decided to release the water.