Ferry services on the Shimulia-Kawrakandi has remained suspended for the last four days due to navigability crisis in the Padma River.
As four Ro-Ro ferries have remained out of operation for two weeks, 14 medium and small ferries were transporting goods and passengers.
But operations of medium and small ferries are halted sometimes due to navigability crisis and strong current in the mighty River Padma, much to cause sufferings for people who depend on the route for their travel.
As a result, hundreds of vehicles got stuck on both sides of the river, leads to traffic confession in three kilometres area on the Dhaka-Mawa Highway near Shimulia ghat in Munshiganj.
Local sources said a good number of underwater shoals had emerged in the channels of the ferry routes between Mawa and Kawrakandi due to irregular dredging.
Sources at the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority said as depth of the river near Louhajong point had deceased, ferry operation could not be conducted on the route which was called the Gateway to southern part of Bangladesh.
Shekhar Chandra, deputy manager of the BIWTA, Shimulia ghat told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday afternoon that ferry services on the route had remained totally suspended since yesterday morning while only a ferry plied the river route on Saturday night.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) officials said they would try to resume the ferry operations during high tides.
He said: “the depth of the river near Shimulia ferry ghat is less than five feet and the depth is not sufficient even for plying of Ro Ro ferry.”
BIWTA’s Executive Engineer (Dredging) Md Sultan Uddin Khan said four BIWTA dredgers had been working since last month at the turning point.
“But the channel’s opening fills up very fast with the silt because of strong current.”
SM Jahangir Alam, deputy manager of the BIWTA, Shimulia ghat, said the dredging machines could not cut silt properly due to strong current in the river.
He said they were going to sit a meeting with Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan to find out a way to solve the crisis. But he could not express hope that the navigability crisis would be solved within a very short time.
Mohammad Shahdat, sergeant in the Dhaka-Mawa Highway outpost, said vehicular movement on the road was thin as transport bound for southern parts of the country had changed route. Drivers were using Daulatdia-Paturia route instead of this route.
“We have requested drivers to use Daulatdia-Paturia route so that they will not have to suffer during travel.” He said some goods-laden trucks were waiting to cross the river at Shimulia point. Yunus Ali, sub-inspector of Mawa outpost, said most of vehicles had turned back seeing disruption of ferry service.
