Bangladesh
Ferry | Truck 18-hour wait for trucks to reach ferries
Dhaka, October 29: A three-day operation has been launched in Paturia to rescue a sunken freight vehicle from a tilted ferry. Hundreds of buses and trucks are waiting to cross the river on Friday due to the disruption of ferry services and shortage of ghats at Daulatdia. Long-distance buses can easily reach the ferry, but freight trucks have to wait 15 to 18 hours to reach the ferry.
Visiting the Ferry Ghat area on Friday (October 29) morning, one saw a long line of buses and trucks across the two lanes of the four-lane road from Zero Point on the Dhaka to Daulatdia Union Parishad on the Dhaka-Khulna Highway in a 3-kilometer area. They are suffering due to lack of food and toilet facilities on the side of the highway.
On the other hand, to reduce congestion at the ferry terminal, there is a long queue of indigestible goods trucks 1 km further from the Goaland junction to Rajbari, 13 km behind the ghat.
According to the sources related to the ghat, the rescue operation is going on for the third day after the ferry accident in Paturia. The ferry number 5 of Paturia has been closed. There are four ghats out of seven ferries in Daulatdia of Rajbari. As a result, due to the ghat crisis on both sides, the ferries are not getting crowded easily. It takes more time to unload the ferry. The traffic pressure on Banglabazar-Shimulia route is also on this route. As a result, traffic jam is being created at Daulatdia.
Abdul Gani Mandal, the driver of the truck from Patuakhali, said, "There is no end to our suffering. Although 18 hours have passed while waiting for the ferry, the ferry has not been seen yet. Although there is no broker's reign in the ghat during the day, the reign of the broker increases at night. Then many people broke the serial with money and drove along the color route and got on the ferry. I couldn't pay so I'm still waiting for the serial."
According to Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) sources, 17 ferries are currently plying on the Daulatdia-Paturia route. Perishable goods trucks are being passed on a priority basis.
