River vessels resume services as Cyclone Titli weakens

Water transports on the domestic routes have resumed services after a 21-hour pause as Cyclone Titli weakened after crossing the Odisha coast in India.

Bangladesh Meteorological Department has asked maritime ports to lower the local cautionary signal to three from four. It asked the inland river ports to hoist the riverine warning signal No. 2, said Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority spokesman Mobarak Hossain Majumder.

“Therefore, we permitted the inland river transport to operate but not in coastal areas,” he said.

The BIWTA had shut water transports on all inland routes on Wednesday because of the cyclone.

None of the launches left the Sadarghat terminal on Wednesday following the directive.

At least 10 launches that started from different coastal districts before the order was issued reached Sadarghat safely on Thursday morning, BIWTA Transport Inspector Syed Mahbubur Rahman Mahfuz told bdnews24.com.

Severe cyclonic storm Titli intensified almost into a hurricane but had weakened through rainfall once it crossed the Odisha-Andhra coastline.

Bangladesh has been experiencing rain and gusts since Wednesday due to the cyclone.

BIWTA permitted the launches to operate starting 1pm on Thursday as weather turned better.