The silver lining in the monsoon clouds. There?s hope yet that Bengalis will get their fair share of the hilsa this season. A Telegraph picture

Monsoon clouds may not be without their silver lining. Unwilling to deprive Bengalis of Bangladesh?s silver harvest, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government on Thursday pleaded with the Centre to lift the trade embargo on land import of hilsa from the neighbouring country.

The Hilsa Fresh Fish Importers? Association hasn?t been able to bring in fish from Bangladesh since May 16 after the eastern animal quarantine and certification services stopped issuing the local no-objection certificates.

Asked if the supply of Bengal?s prized fish was guaranteed this year, chief minister Bhattacharjee said: ?I had asked the chief secretary to take up the issue with Delhi.?

Accordingly, state fisheries secretary Rachpal Singh Kahalon has written to the Centre, seeking a lift of the ban on land imports.

?We had written to chief minister and the fisheries minister, highlighting our problem yesterday. We?ve been importing this fish for the past 12 years,? said Syed Anwar Masood, secretary of the Hilsa Fresh Fish Importers? Association on Thursday.

The agriculture ministry had in 2001 issued a gazette notification stating that all livestock imports be accompanied by a sanitary import slip (SIP) from the department of animal husbandry and dairy, ministry of agriculture. However, the quarantine certificate for these items is issued only at seaports and airports.

?This notification reached the Indo-Bangla border in December 2004, and the customs then informed us that they won?t issue us permits for land imports,? says Masood.

?With the hilsa season just starting, we fear prices will rise if supply remains cut off during monsoon, which is the peak season,? he added.

The association, which imports over 5,000 metric tonnes of fish from Bangladesh annually, has urged the Centre to issue a SIP to their import.

This spells bad news for the Bengali palate, since Bangladesh importers claim their supply accounts for 90 per cent of the total hilsa in the Calcutta market.

While the Centre has no objection to the fish being airlifted or shipped across to Bengal, the importers insist that they be allowed to import by land.

They argue that while air transport is expensive and will hike prices, import via sea will rob the fish of its freshness.