After being closed for five consecutive days, vessel operations have resumed from the capital's main river port, Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
However, the presence of people in the terminal area remains limited.
On Thursday afternoon, a visit to the Sadarghat terminal and pontoon area revealed that a dozen launches destined for Barisal, Bhola, Chandpur, and Noakhali routes are waiting for passengers.
There is a noticeable presence of passengers on the Chandpur route launches, but the other route launches have very few passengers.
According to port and launch officials, launches are operating from Sadarghat from 10am during the relaxed curfew hours. The launches departed the terminal until 5pm.
On Wednesday, only two launches departed for Bhola and Chandpur while on Thursday, from 10am to 1:30pm, 12 launches have departed, and 8 launches arrived at the terminal from various places, AKM Belayet Hossain, traffic inspector of Sadarghat Terminal, said.
“There is no rush of passengers at the terminal," he added.
Mizanur Rahman, manager of MV Pubali 7, said: "There are significantly fewer passengers compared to other times. We usually have 7 to 8 launches departing for Chandpur every day. Today, only 5 will depart. People are still hesitant to come out due to the curfew, which is why there are fewer people at the terminal."
Jamal, cabin in-charge of Shrinagar 7 launch heading to Lalmohan in Bhola district, said: "We are departing after 5 days. There are fewer passengers and more amount of goods. However, cabin sales are reasonably good."
Passengers coming to the terminal mentioned that although there was not much traffic on the way, there was a severe shortage of vehicles, causing significant inconvenience.
A passenger named Alim Molla, heading to Barisal, said: "I came from Mirpur. There were no buses on the road. The few buses that came were fully loaded with passengers. After waiting for an hour, I managed to get on a bus with great difficulty. It took three hours to reach Sadarghat from Mirpur."
Regarding security measures in the terminal area, officer-in-charge of Sadarghat Naval police station, Abul Kalam, said: "To avoid any unpleasant situation, the naval police are patrolling the river regularly. Additionally, our police personnel are on high alert in the terminal area."