Putting an end to weeks of disappointment, the silver hilsa of the Padma is set to reach Bengali plates in West Bengal before Durga Puja. After saying "no" for a long time, Bangladesh's interim government has finally approved hilsa exports to India.
Bangladesh has allowed 3,000 tonnes of hilsa to be exported to India for this year's Durga Puja. The country's Ministry of Commerce announced this in a notice on Saturday, 21 September. If all goes well, people in West Bengal will be able to taste Padma hilsa from 26 or 27 September.
Importers had feared no fish this year
Syed Anwar Maksud, general secretary of India's Fish Importers Association, told Jago News: "As every year, we applied to the Bangladesh government this year too, asking for hilsa for the Puja. But we kept getting very disappointing news that perhaps no hilsa would come to West Bengal this year."
He said: "On Saturday we finally got the good news that the Bangladesh government will give 3,000 metric tonnes of hilsa. The Bangladesh government has sent us the guidelines it issued as well. If all goes well, Bangladeshi hilsa will start arriving in West Bengal from 26 September."
Asked how long the shipments would continue, Anwar Maksud said nothing had been announced. "Hilsa fishing in Bangladesh is usually closed from 22 October. But this time it has come very late. We still do not know over how many days the Bangladesh government will supply these 3,000 tonnes."
Prices expected to ease
Asked what the price might be once Bangladeshi hilsa arrives in West Bengal, he said: "Despite our best efforts, we have not yet been able to bring the price of hilsa below a thousand rupees. I hope that during the Puja a one-kilogram hilsa will sell for 1,500 to 1,600 rupees in the wholesale market."
People on this side of Bengal are delighted that hilsa is coming from Bangladesh for the Puja season. Sheikh Mahmud, a worker at the Howrah fish market, said: "We are very happy that hilsa is coming from Bangladesh. There is little hilsa in the Kolkata market anyway, and the price is high. When Bangladeshi hilsa comes, the price will come down a little. Naturally, people here are happy at the news that Padma hilsa is coming."
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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