The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation starts an 11-day special steamer service tomorrow from the Dhaka end on occasion of upcoming Eid-ul-Azha and Durga Puja.
Eid-ul-Azha of the Muslims would be celebrated in October 16-18 and Durga Puja of the Hindus in October 10-14. The special service of BIWTC vessels will start at Barisal end on Friday and continue till October 20, said Nurul Alam Akand, deputy general manager (commercial/passenger and ferry) BIWTC.
Official source also said five BIWTC vessels peddle-wheel steamers PS Ostrich, PS Lepcha, PS Mahsud, PS Turn, and screw wheel motor vessel MV Sela have been placed to carry passengers to their respective destinations connecting Chandpur, Barisal, Jhalakati, Pirojpur, Bagerhaat under this special schedule.
Every day at least one regular and one special vessel would be placed on the routes, said Gopal Chandra Majumdar, assistant general manager of the BIWTC Barisal.
Under this schedule PS Mahsud will leave Sadarghat in Dhaka at 6:30pm Thursday on a regular trip to Morelganj of Bagerhaat and PS Ostrich will also leave the same station on a special trip to Barisal at 6:00 pm on the same day, he added.
Barisal and Narayanganj BIWTC stations have been asked to provide special tug boats and piloting services and be prepared to face any emergency calls, the BIWTC sources said.
Gopal Chandra Majumdar said the passenger fare of BIWTC carriers for special trips would remain the same as normal trips.
Accordingly, passengers of BIWTC vessels on 161-kilometre Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka route in a single trip have to pay Tk 1050 for one Class I cabin seat, Tk 640 for one Class II cabin seat and Tk 170 for each deck seat.
Eight sea trucks of BIWTC will connect 11 stations of coastal routes under Barisal, Bhola, Laxmipur, Noakhali and Chittagong.
Three coastal ships MV Monitul Huq, MV Abdul Matin and MV Baro-Awlia of BIWTC will operate under regular and Eid-Puja special services to connect different destinations like Hatiya, Sandwip and Chittagong.
-With New Age input
