Period of trip increased by three to four hours
The shortage of ferries at Paturia-Daulatdia Ferry Ghat, which connects the southern districts with the central ones of the country, is leading to long queues of vehicles on each side of the Padma River and lengthening the duration of the trips by three to four hours.
According to official sources in the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation, there were twelve Roll-0n-Roll-Off ferries and two K-type ferries in the Aricha sector, but the authorities had to send three of them — two Ro-Ro ferries and one K-type ferry — to Mawa Ferry Ghat.
Eight Ro-Ro ferries and one K-type ferry are now in operation at the Padma ghat, they said, adding that some Ro-Ro ferries are now out of operation and have been sent to various dockyards for repair and renovation.
The queues at both the ends of the Padma usually lengthen on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as the people leave Dhaka on Thursday and on Friday to spend weekends with their families and return on Saturday, said ferry users. The queues are longest on the days before and after religious festivals like Eid and Puja.
They said that the businessmen and those who come to Dhaka from the southern districts for business generally begin their journey on Saturday night, and most of them return home on Thursday as offices are closed on Friday and Saturday.
They also pointed out that the number of vehicles is increasing day by day in the routes but the number of ferries remains the same, which is why traffic jam has been increasing continuously.
‘It took seven to eight hours to go from Dhaka to Khulna a few months back, but on 16 October I needed 12 hours to reach Khulna and on Friday night I needed 11 hours to come back to Dhaka,’ said Shakila Ruma, 34, an employee of a non-governmental organization in Dhaka who hails from Khulna city.
‘A few months back we used to get on the last bus that leaves for Dhaka from Khulna at around 11:00pm, and used to disembark in Dhaka in the early morning,’ said Debananda Kumar, a businessman of Islampur Road in Khulna city.
He said that earlier they could get on Dhaka-bound buses after completing their business in Khulna, but nowadays they have to board the buses earlier as they get stuck for two to four hours at the Paturia-Daulatdia Ferry Ghat.
A number of BIWTC employees said the floating workshop ‘Madhumati’ at the ghat remains busy in repairing the minor glitches of various ferries and at least one or two ferries are brought to the workshop for repair everyday.
They alleged that repair is usually delayed due to the negligence of a section of BIWTC officials.
Md Masud Hossain, a supervisor of transport agency Eagle Paribahan, told New Age that the traffic jam at the ghat began on Eid-Ul-Fitr in September.
‘Though the jam has lessened recently, we have been suffering two to four hours’ jam at the ghat,’ said Masud, adding that they and the drivers get less time to rest before the return trips.
BIWTC (Commerce) manager Ashraf Ullah Khan of Aricha section admitted to New Age that the shortage of ferries has been causing prolonged jams at both the ends of the ghat.
He opined that five to six more ferries are needed to keep the situation normal.
Aricha section’s assistant engineer Subal Sarkar said that the condition of five of the working ferries — Bir Shreshta Jahangir, Amanat Shah, Bir Shreshta Hamidur Rahman, Bir Shreshta Motiur Rahman and Keramat Ali — is not at all good.
Keramat Ali, which cannot move and needs immediate repair, has to be towed by Tug Boat IT-389, he said.
