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Published : 01 Jan 2022, 01:22 PM
“There were a total of 11 vessels, including ferries,” said Mazdar Rahman, inspector of Gaibandha Railway Marine Department.
“Five of them have been sold. One of the five was purchased by JR Enterprise in the East Ahmed Nagar area of Dhaka’s Mirpur.”
“I have heard that the ferry named Jiwan was sold at auction for Tk 7.6 million. Jiwan weighs approximately 500,000 kg,” he said.
Four other vessels have recently been sold at auction but have yet to be handed over and are awaiting transfer at Balashi Ghat, he said.
“The remaining six are still in the process of being sold. Tenders may have been invited. However, no sales have gone through yet,” Russel Alam, a mechanical engineer for Lalmonirhat Railway and additional superintendent of Gaibandha railway marine department, told bdnews24.com.
When asked why he said that tenders ‘may have been invited’, he said: "Tenders are invited and sales are conducted from the office of the Chief Equipment Controller of Rajshahi. The authorities there know the situation.”
Contacted by phone, Rashedul Hasan, chief equipment controller of Rajshahi Railway, said, "Information cannot be provided over the phone.”
He declined to comment further when asked if the matter was confidential.
Shah Sufi Noor Mohammad, Lalmonirhat divisional railway manager, said: “These vessels are not required by the railway. They are of no use. They aren’t even fit to move and are just rusting away. The waterway isn’t operational either. That's why they are being sold.”
A few vessels were docked on the banks of the Jamuna River in Gaibandha’s Balashi Ghat. About seven or eight employees are guarding the vessels, but local children were playing on them. Boats were running nearby.
Security guard Manindranath says that he just guards the ferries with a few others and knows little more than that.
"However, I heard that these vessels are being sold at auction by the Rajshahi railway. The buyers come and take them away from time to time.”
Hakim Ali, the cook for the security personnel, echoed that he had heard about the sale of the vessel at auction.
Gaibandha Rail Station Master Abul Kashem said, “The British government started the Tistamukh-Bahadurabad route in 1938. The Tistamukh Ghat of Gaibandha’s Fulchhari Upazila on one side, while Bahadurabad Ghat of Jamalpur’s Dewanganj Upazila on the other.”
The route later shifted from the Tistamukh Ghat to the Balashi Ghat in the same upazila in 1990, said Abul Kashem.
“The Dhaka-Dinajpur rail link started with the launch of the Tistamukh-Bahadurabad route. People from eight northern districts used to travel by train to Tistamukh Ghat.”
“People used to cross from Tistamukh to Bahadurabad by ferry. After they reached Bahadurabad they got on the train for Dhaka. It was safe to travel to Dhaka for a cheap price at the time.”
The marine department of the railway started operating after the launch of the Tistamukh-Bahadurabad route. The Gaibandha branch of the department currently employs 30-35 people.
In 2015, 19 vessels were sold at auction from Balashi Ghat after officials showed they were unnecessary.
Abul Kashem said that ferry movement on the Balashi-Bahadurabad route stopped in 1996 due to issues of navigability on the Jamuna River.
The Bangabandhu Bridge over the Jamuna River also opened in June 1998. As a result, ferry service on this route was stopped in 2000.
Balashi Ghat has been redundant since then, but the vessels there have been left to rust for the past 20 years.
