Petrapole is the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n side of Petrapole- Benapole

border checkpoint A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods are inspected and allowed (or denied) passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders ofte ...

between India and Benapole of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, on the Bangladesh-India border, near

Bongaon Bangaon is a city and a municipality in North 24 Parganas district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bangaon subdivision. Geography Location Bangaon is located at . It has an average elevation of 7 m ...

in North 24 Parganas district of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

. Petrapole border is the only land

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

south Bengal South Bengal ( bn, দক্ষিণবঙ্গ/দক্ষিণ বাংলা) is a term used for the southern parts of Bengal including Southern Bangladesh and Southern West Bengal, state in India. The Bangladesh part denotes the Khulna ...

. It is also the largest land customs station in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Geography

Location

Petrapole is in the district of North 24 Parganas and is about 95 km from

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

on the

National Highway 112 The following roads are numbered 112: Brazil * PA-112 Canada * New Brunswick Route 112 * Ontario Highway 112 * Prince Edward Island Route 112 * Quebec Route 112 China * China National Highway 112 Costa Rica * National Route 112 I ...

(formerly NH 35). The nearest town and passenger rail station is

Area overview

The area shown in the map was a part of Jessore district from 1883. At the time of

Partition of Bengal (1947) The Partition of Bengal in 1947, part of the Partition of India, divided the British Indian province of Bengal based on the Radcliffe Line between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The Hindu-majority West Bengal became a st ...

the

Radcliffe Line The Radcliffe Line was the boundary demarcated between the Indian and Pakistani portions of the Punjab Province and Bengal Presidency of British India. It was named after Cyril Radcliffe, who, as the joint chairman of the two boundary commissi ...

placed the police station areas of Bangaon and Gaighata of Jessore district in India and the area was made a part of 24 Parganas district. The renowned novelist,

Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay () (12 September 1894 – 1 November 1950) was an Indian writer in the Bengali language. His best known works are the autobiographical novel, '' Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road''), ''Aparajito (Undefeat ...

(of ''

Pather Panchali ''Pather Panchali'' (; ) is a 1955 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray and produced by the Government of West Bengal. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's 1929 Bengali novel of the same na ...

'' fame) belonged to this area and many of his writings portray his experience in the area. It is a flat plain located in the lower Ganges Delta. In the densely populated area, 16.33% of the population lives in the urban areas and 83.67% lives in the rural areas. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Significance

This check post accounts for more than half of the $4-billion (nearly double the trade volume with

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

) trade with

. This is the largest land port of

. The landport alone accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh.

Communication

The Petrapole-Benapole rail link was opened in 2001 after being closed for 24 years. There is a proposal to construct a by-pass road to ease congestion on the present road, connecting Benapole to NH 112 (earlier NH 35), bypassing Bangaon.Bypass to ease border traffic
''telegraphindia.com''. Retrieved 6 May 2013 On 9 November 2017, Nearly 10 years after Kolkata-Dhaka passenger train was flagged off after a gap of 43 years, a new train –

Bandhan Express The Bandhan Express train ( bn, বন্ধন এক্সপ্রেস) is an international express rail service which runs between the Indian city Kolkata and the Bangladeshi city Khulna every week. It is the second modern day, fully air ...

– was inaugurated between Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh (via Petrapole and Benapole), covering a distance of about 172 km. This is a weekly train and runs on Thursdays from both sides.

Gallery

File:BSF at Petrapole.JPG, BSF at Petrapole File:Crossing Border to India.JPG, Crossing Border at Petrapole File:Enroute to Petrapole.JPG, En route to Petrapole File:Petrapole Railway Station.JPG, Petrapole railway station File:Auto to Petropole.JPG, Auto to Petropole

References

External links

Satellite map
{{India-Bangladesh land border checkpoints