Boat passengers have had to shell out increased fares for crossing the Dharla River to connect them with the Lalmonirhat district town from the Fulbari- Shimulbari boat dock in Lalmonirhat sadar upazila.
Boatmen admitted that they have been asking for additional charges from the passengers to pay off toll money to local gangs and the increased cost of fuel due to river erosion.
Boat passengers said earlier the charges had been fixed at Tk5 for a person, Tk10 for a motorcycle, Tk5 for a bicycle and Tk50 for each microbus and other light vehicles for a single trip by the boat on the route. As opposed to this, the boatmen had been taking Tk20 for a person, Tk50 for motorcycle, Tk20 for bicycle and Tk300 to 500 for other light vehicles for the last one month, they said.
Boat passenger Zamil Hossain from Fulbari upazila said, “We are forced to pay the additional boat fare as we have no alternative to connect with Lalmonirhat district town.”
Another passenger Sirazul Islam from Nageshawri upazila said boatmen misbehaved if someone refused to pay the additional boat fare. He was a regular passenger on this route since last three years but he also did not escape harassment for additional fare, he said.
Boatman Nazir Uddin said 30 boats plied from the Fulbari- Shimulbari boat dock. The distance on the river, which was only half a kilometre a month back, had increased to at least three kilometres due to river erosion. They were asking for additional fare from the passengers to pay for the extra fuel and for giving toll to local gangs.
Another boatman Taherul Islam said local ruling Awami League men and opposition BNP men have been taking toll money from them since the last one month as due to river erosion, the dock was now part of the under their control. They collected Tk30 from each boat for every trip, adding that a boatman could run six to eight trips in a day.
The leaseholder of the boat dock Younus Ali said he had spent a huge amount of money, as the dock was rendered unusable six times in the last one month. Local organised gangs subjected boatmen to harassment if they refused to pay toll money, he said, admitting that a little additional fare was being charged to the passengers.
