Many people trying to return to the capital after the Eid vacation failed to get seats on Dhaka-bound water transports yesterday at Barisal port as most vessels were overloaded.
A dozen triple-decker launches and two steamers that had left Barisal on Saturday night returned empty from Dhaka’s Sadar Ghat terminal yesterday evening.
Tickets for cabin seats were only available in the black market at 30%-50% higher prices, and many people did not manage even to get inside the crowded port-terminal, passengers alleged.
Even after reaching the port on time, a large number of passengers could not board the Dhaka-bound vessels scheduled for 7:45 pm-8:45 pm yesterday due to the heavy rush.
Law enforcers, meanwhile, ordered overloaded vessels to leave the port ahead of schedule for safety and security of passengers.
It had become impossible to tackle the rush of Eid passengers even after scheduling extra trips for the vessels, and the situation may continue for a day or two, owners’ association and port sources said.
Saidur Rahman Rintu, vice president of Barisal Launch Owners Association, said the capacity of the triple-decker launches plying the Barisal-Dhaka route was limited to 750-1,240 passengers each.
But last evening, the vessels carried 2,000-3,000 passengers each at great risk to life and property, he said.
Sharmin Sultana, a garment worker, said she took the risk of boarding an overloaded launch as there was no alternative transport available.
“It offers the lowest fare and easiest journey, without affecting my working hour,” she said.
Gopal Chandra Majumdar, assistant general manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation’s Barisal station, said they started a 12-day special steamer service with five extra vessels from October 11 to different destinations on the Dhaka-Chandpur-Barisal-Jhalakathi-Pirojpur-Bagerhaat-Khulna routes for the Eid-ul-Azha holidays.
However, the additional services proved insufficient to deal with the huge rush of Eid passengers at Barisal port, he admitted.
Md Shahidullah, a Barisal port official and deputy director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, said authorities tried to tackle the Eid rush by diverting Dhaka-bound water transports from other ports to touch Barisal, and introducing daytime services.
But the rush of passengers was more than expected as a large number of garment workers and low-income people preferred to travel on the cheapest mode of transport.
“We also noticed the overloading situation, but failed to control it as sufficient vessels were not available to tackle the rush of Eid passengers on water ways,“ the port officer acknowledged.
