The pressure on the Daulatdia-Paturia route has increased over the past few days as two of the ferries at the Daulaudia terminal have broken down amid the rush of holidaymakers ahead of the Eid.
Authorities at the terminal said there are 20 ferries on the Daulatdia-Paturia route but one ferry has already been sent to Narayanganj for repair works.
“A few days later, two more ferries broke down and those were sent to Paturia floating factory. The traffic is getting heavier due to the shortage of ferries and jetties compared to our needs,” BIWTC Daulatdia Terminal Manager Md Shihab Uddin said on Tuesday.
He mentioned that a pontoon was set up at terminal no 8 on Saturday after a long eight-month shutdown, and it will be operational in a day or two.
On Tuesday morning, an eight-km-long tailback was spotted from the terminal’s zero point to Dhaka-Khulna Highway.
Trucks carrying emergency and perishable goods, and passenger vehicles were seen waiting for hours in long queues in the scorching hot weather.
Most of the drivers complained that it was taking some 12 to 14 hours to reach the ferry terminals.
Abdul Latif, a jetty supervisor of Sauharda Paribahan, said: "Officials had previously said that 18 ferries would operate on the Padma River, but that is not the case now. If all 18 ferries were operational, then there would not have been such a long queue today [Tuesday]”
Long queues of trucks are seen near the Dautaldia terminal on Tuesday, April 26. 2022 Dhaka TribuneGovinda Biswas, a driver from Satkhira said he had been sitting in the tailback for two hours.
“It takes four hours to cross the 2km road towards the terminal. It would take another four hours to get on one of the ferries. People will get ill in this weather if authorities don’t take steps to fix the situation,” he added.
On Monday, Daulatdia-Paturia ferry terminal authorities decided to widen the suspension of the crossing of goods-laden trucks to 10 days before and after Eid.
Vehicles carrying raw and perishable goods, however, will be allowed to cross the Padma River.
The decision was taken to ease the suffering of the homebound people during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
