Hundreds of vehicles, mostly trucks laden with goods, are in long lines to enter Paturia Ferry Terminal in Manikganj.
The ferry service on the Padma river at the Paturia-Daulatdia ferry terminals was hampered and delayed over the last three days due to a shortage of ferries.
At least three of 19 ferries were sent to the Narayanganj dockyard for repairs and four others are anchored at a floating workshop near Paturia Ghat.
The crisis in ferries to take waiting vehicles across, and low river navigability have caused the problem, said Khandaker Mohammed Tanvir Ahmed, assistant general manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at the Aricha Regional Office.
The problems have doubled the pressure of vehicles at the terminals as most vehicles on the Shimulia-Kathalbari route facing poor river navigability issues on their own route are using the Paturia-Daulatdia route, confirmed Basudev Sinha, in charge of Baranggail Highway police outpost.
Over 300 trucks were stranded at two truck terminals of Paturia Ghat around 12pm and more than 200 trucks stood lined up on the highway at the Uthli-Paturia junction, about six km away from Paturia Ghat.
However, passenger and emergency vehicles are being given priority.
Truck driver Khorshed Ali, 52, stranded at the Daulatdia end of Rajbari with his Soyabean laden truck, said: "I reached the Uthli-Paturia junction last Sunday and am still waiting to cross the river on a ferry. I could not manage a ticket yet.”
According to BIWTC officer Tanvir: "Twelve ferries are in operation. We are trying to bring in a ferry from the Shimulia-Kathalbari route to handle the pressure on the remaining ferries.”
