Passengers returning to work are suffering due to lack of transportation at Paturia and Aricha ports.
Passengers have started returning to Dhaka from Wednesday after Eid. For the last three or four days, passengers have been coming to Paturia and Aricha ghat every day from morning till evening to go to work. Thousands of passengers from 21 districts in the south-west of the country are also waiting for hours. They have to pay four or five times more as they need to go to work in Dhaka.
Thousands of passengers flocked to the ferry and launch on the Paturia-Daulatdia waterway on Friday. Due to the overflowing crowd of passengers, the ferries and launches were full to the brim.
Thousands of passengers are waiting for buses at various stations including Paturia, Aricha Ghat. A class of corrupt bus owners at Paturia Ghat is taking passengers in every seat without paying any attention to hygiene. Passengers are taking three to four times more fare than usual from the passengers while standing inside the bus in addition to the seats.
Rashedul Islam, assistant director of BIWTC's Aricha office, said passengers were coming to Paturia Ghat from Wednesday to cross the Padma-Jamuna river to go to work in Dhaka after Eid. Passengers returning to work are crossing the river with their families without following the hygiene rules. Most of the passengers did not wear any mask on their faces.
Alal Uddin Alal, president of the Paturia Bus Owners Association, said no one had complained about the extra fare.
Zillur Rahman, DGM, BIWTC, Aricha office, said the pressure on the ferry on the Paturia-Daulatdia water route has increased since Wednesday. Passengers and vehicles are being crossed by 12-13 small and big ferries every day.
Meanwhile, thousands of passengers, including children and women, who are returning to Dhaka after Eid-ul-Azha holidays went through immense suffering as ferry service on the Paturia-Daulatdia route has been facing disruption due to strong current and poor navigability in the Padma.
It takes around eleven to twelve hours to get on a ferry at Daulatdia ferry terminal in Rajbari's Goalanda, said passengers.
Over 150 vehicles, mostly buses and goods-laden trucks, were seen stuck in long tailbacks on both sides of the river.
At Daulatdia ferry terminal, flow of vehicles began to increase yesterday morning as the ferries took twice the time required for each trip due to strong currents, said Bangladesh Inland Shipping Corporation (BIWTC) Daulatdia Ghat Branch Manager Abu Abdullah Rony.
Seventeen out of 18 ferries, including eight Ro-Ro, three K-type and six utility ferries, were now operating, he added. The ferries were often breaking down, said Rony, adding that one to two of the 18 ferries had to be repaired in the floating workshop.
Ro-Ro Ferry Bhasha Shaheed Barkat was being repaired in the floating workshop at Paturia terminal, he added.
Women, children, the elderly and patients were suffering most. Outside the terminal, passengers also suffered due to lack of restroom facilities.
However, the district police diverted traffic from the Dhaka Aricha Highway. The police took the move after at least 500 vehicles remained stuck at the Paturia Ghat waiting to cross the mighty Padma, said Rajbari Superintendent of Police Mizanur Rahman.
