Ferry services resume partially on Shimulia-Kathalbari route

Ferry operations on the Shimulia-Kathalbari route have partially resumed after poor navigability and strong current in the Padma River disrupted services for almost eight hours.

But around 400 vehicles remain stranded at the jetties on either side of the river, according to the authorities.

Ferry services on the vital route between Munshiganj and Madaripur were suspended around 3am on Sunday.

Operations along the route have been hampered for almost a week, said Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, the assistant general manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTA).

The navigability problem at the Louhajong turning point became severe in the early hours of Sunday, according to the BIWTA official.

"Ferries couldn't enter the channel and were forced to return. The 16 ferries that ply the route are sitting idly by as a result which is causing passengers to suffer."

Dredging work at the channel is currently underway in order to improve navigability, he said. But launch services along the route remain unaffected and are being used by bus passengers to make the crossing.

According to Mawa Zonal Traffic Inspector Hilal Uddin, the traffic congestion was worsening in the area due to the stoppage of ferry operations. The tailback currently stretches from the parking yard of the Shimulia jetty to the highway.

The traffic is similarly clogged in Kathalbari as hundreds of goods-laden trucks, micro-buses and cars queue up to cross the Padma River.