1 of 2 waterbuses on circular waterway out of service

One of the two waterbuses plying the Aminbazar-Sadarghat waterway has remained out of service for about a month, causing sufferings to the commuters.
The passengers have to wait for hours for the only waterbus, Turag, which touches each of the four landing stations every three to three and a half hours.
The other waterbus, Buriganga, went out of order on October 8 and is now in a Narayanganj dockyard for repair, said Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation officials.
‘I came to enjoy a journey by the waterbus from Gabtoli to Sadarghat but I could not avail the waterbus even after waiting about two hours from 9:45am,’ said Shukur Ali, 32, residing near Gabtoli bus terminal of the city, on Friday.
Another aspirant to travel the route from Gabtoli landing station, Hriday Sarkar, 26, a small trader near Sadarghat, said the waterbus left the Gabtoli landing station at around 9:30am with merely 15 to 16 passengers on Friday.
Md Faruque Hossain, a shopkeeper near the Gabtoli landing station, said, ‘Some passengers come to the landing station throughout the day but they leave the station when they come to know that the waterbus will arrive after several hours.’
‘None can wait for hours for a transport,’ he observed.
BIWTC launched two waterbuses — Turag and Buriganga, built by Bangladeshi company Three-Angel Marine Consultant at a cost of Tk 1.11 crore and each having 35 seats, on August 28 on the water route as part of the government initiative to revive the capital’s circular waterway service in a bid to reduce pressure on the Dhaka city roads, they said.
The water buses used to ply the 16km route touching four landing stations – Gabtali, Swarighat, Kholamura and Sadarghat — from 7:00am to 6:00pm every day and ferry fare was fixed at Tk 30, Tk 20 and Tk 10 per head as per the distance.
Each of the buses was scheduled to be available at the two terminal points every two hours, they said, adding that presently the only waterbus reaches the ends every three to three and a half hours.
They said that when both of the waterbuses were active, they got passengers to fill up all the seats, but now the number of passengers has dwindled because of the long wait for the only waterbus.
BIWTC assistant general manager Jillur Rahman, talking to New Age, expected that waterbus Buriganga would come into operation by a week and hoped that they would get more passengers after both the waterbuses were in service.

Courtesy of NewAge