Ferry services on Padma River’s Shimulia-Kathalbari route have been suspended for an indefinite period from 6pm-6am every day until further notice.
Authorities say the decision has been taken due to the river’s poor navigability and to avoid major accident risks at the Padma Bridge construction area, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded on both sides of the river.
Profulla Chouhan, assistant manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Shimulia ghat, confirmed Saturday’s development.
He said State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, while he was travelling to Tungipara, ordered BIWTC officials to halt ferry services at night to avoid unwanted incidents from Saturday.
However, some officials fear that they may have to suspend ferry services totally at any time.
Due to strong current and navigability crisis, many ferries had gotten stuck in shoals of the river in the last few days.
Mohammad Foysal, BIWTC assistant manager (Trade) at Shimulia ghat, said: "Ferry services on this route are on the verge of closing. Only two ferries are now operating. RO RO ferry Birshreshtho Jahangir, which was stuck at a shoal, was rescued and brought back to the terminal on Saturday afternoon.”
He said: “Now, it has been decided that smaller ferries, excluding all the RO RO ferries, will operate. But considering the circumstances, we think ferry services may halt totally at any time.
“Now, almost 400 vehicles, including 200 trucks have been waiting in this terminal to cross the river. Some of them have been waiting for the last four days.”
State Minister Khalid, while talking to reporters in Tungipara, Gopalganj on Saturday, said: “The decision has been taken to ensure safety of Padma Bridge construction work and avoid major accident risks.
“The construction workers are facing difficulty because of the strong current in the river right now. A ferry had also gotten stuck in a shoal yesterday [Friday].”
He said: “If the ferry services continue at night, risks of some major mishaps will remain. We don’t want to disrupt or hamper the bridge’s construction work.”
However, thousands of passengers and transport workers immensely suffered on Saturday as they were left stranded in gridlocks on roads adjacent to the ferry terminals.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Association (BIWTA) Supervision Engineer (dredging) Saidur Rahman also told Dhaka Tribune: “There is a navigability crisis in the Louhajong channel. Eight dredgers out of 11 have been working to solve the crisis.
“We have been dredging at several points of the channel and it will continue till January next year.”
Additional reporting by Manoj Kumar Saha from Gopalganj
