Dense fog shuts river route, snaps Dhaka’s road links with 21 districts

A spell of dense fog, leading to poor visibility, lingering over the Padma has forced suspension of all traffic on the key Shimulia-Kewrakandi waterway route.

Madaripur CorrespondentMunshiganj and sbdnews24.com
Published : 9 Dec 2014, 06:32 PM
Updated : 9 Dec 2014, 06:41 PM

File photo

It has left thousands stranded and snapped Dhaka’s road communications with 21 south-western districts.
Low visibility caused by thick fog has been hampering river traffic as the winter started setting in.
The scenario was much the same on Tuesday when BIWTC suspended all traffic at around 10pm leaving at least 12 ferries stranded mid-river.
Moreover, around a thousand vehicles, mostly with passengers, are stuck on both ends of the river route.
BIWTC’s Shimulia terminal Manager Sirajul Haq said there were visibility issues on this terminal’s end. The last ferry left the terminal at around 10:15pm.
“The ferries cannot navigate due to heavy fog from Magurkhand area,” he told bdnews24.com.

The old Mawa ferry terminal has been shifted to Shimulia to facilitate the construction of Padma Bridge.

Kewrakandi terminal’s Assistant Manager Habibur Rahman said they had shut the route at around 9:30pm as visibility was alarmingly low.

Senior Terminal Super Habibul Islam said it had become hard even to see objects as far as a metre away.

“We’ve closed the route to avoid accidents,” he said.

The stranded ferries anchored mid-river and will start for their destinations once the fog cleared, Islam added.

Four other ferries have been anchored at both ends of the route.

Tuesday’s river traffic suspension was the first of this season.

Several thousand vehicles have been stranded on both ends of the Shimulia-Kewrakandi route that connects Dhaka with 21 south-western districts.