Mayor Lytton said they had been working to start a river port for more than five years. Ultimately this happened due to the sincere efforts of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The river port will be used mainly for import of stone, fly ash, stone, coal, fruits and spices from India as well as export of jute and textiles from Bangladesh.
The Mayor of Rajshahi City expressed hope that this inauguration will generate employment opportunities and the prices of various commodities will reduce due to lower transportation costs when the river port is fully operational.
He also said the government plans to extend the river route to Mongla port and undertake joint capital dredging by India and Bangladesh to improve navigability of the river.
A barge with a capacity of 500 tons in the river is equivalent to 25 trucks on the road, and the barge uses less fuel oil. He said that the prices of commodities will naturally fall.
