Plans to create a modern river port at Daudkandi in Bangladesh have officially started with the inauguration of capital dredging work.
Bangladesh Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan said the dredging work along the Daudkandi, Homna and Ramkrishnapur River routes would restore the navigability of rivers.
Mr Shajahan said the government had bought 14 dredgers between 2009 and 2013, and intended to buy 20 more by 2019. Another 50 had been procured by the private sector.
Three excavators have also been bought to demolish illegal structures on the riverbanks, with plans under way to acquire another six.
About 1,380 kilometres of waterways have already been dredged.
