The ferries plying on the Paturia-Daulatdia route were forced to cut down their capacity by more than fifty percent due to low navigability of Padma River.
The transportation of goods-laden trucks has been suffering a huge setback due to the capacity reduction coupled with frequent suspension of ferry services on the route.
A roll-on roll-off (RoRo) ferry with a capacity of carrying around 24 vehicles cannot carry more than 10 vehicles due to low navigability said Zillur Rahman, assistant general manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation’s (BIWTC) Daulatdia office, yesterday.
Goods-laden trucks are standing in long queues for minimum three days, he added.
Abdul Matin, deputy general manager of BIWTC at Aricha ferry sector said propulsion system of each ferry operating on the river has been hampered due to low navigability which could have been prevented by timely dredging of the channel across the route.
Around 1000 trucks were seen queued up on both sides of roads approaching Paturia and Daulatdia, report our Manikganj correspondent.
The Paturia-Daulatdia channel has only six feet of water whereas a ferry needs eight feet deep water to ply, the BIWTC official said.
Meanwhile, ‘Kumari’, a K-type ferry carrying nine vehicles ran aground near Daulatdia ghat early yesterday within the first five minutes of its journey. The ferry services on the route remained normal despite the stagnation. It was rescued nearly nine hours later.
A UNB report from Dhaka adds: Government has formed two taskforces for monitoring the action taken to ease ferry movement on Paturia-Daulatdia and Mawa-Kawrakandi routes and preserve waterway.
The bodies, each consisting of six members, have been formed following frequent disruptions in ferry movement on the two routes due to low navigability and hidden shoals in the Padma river, said an official release yesterday.
The committee members were asked to stay at their respective ghats until situation on the river routes becomes normal.
Engineer Firoz Ahmed, member of BIWTA has been made convener of the taskforce formed to monitor the Paturia-Daulatdia route while engineer Gyan Ranjan Shill director (admin) of BIWTA will address the Mawa-Kawrakandi route.
-With The Daily Star input
