BIWTA halts all river traffic as Cyclone Hamoon approaches

All types of river transport are suspended until further notice, a spokesman said

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority has halted all river traffic as Cyclone Hamoon approaches the coast.

All types of river transport will remain suspended until further notice, said the agency’s Deputy Director (Media) Mobarak Hossain Majumdar.

The river port in Dhaka has been asked to hoist local cautionary signal No. 1, while the river port in Chandpur was asked to hoist cautionary signal No. 2, said ABS Mahmud, a BIWTA officer.

However, the warning signals for seaports have increased and travelling along the three estuaries of the Mohona River in Chandpur has become dangerous.

As a result, all types of launch services have been suspended at the Sadarghat, including to Chandpur.

Bhola and Barishal will feel the major effects of a cyclone when it comes to Barishal division, said BIWTA Deputy Director Abdur Razzak. The authorities ceased the operation of all river vessels on all rivers in the Barishal division, he said. The order will be effective until the weather improves.

Hamoon is likely to move north-northeast and may cross the Barishal-Chattogram coast near Bhola by Wednesday afternoon as a cyclonic storm, the Met Office forecast.

The cyclone, however, has yet to have much impact in Barishal as of 12 pm on Tuesday. The sky remained cloudy and there was a lack of wind making the weather quite hot, locals said.

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department asked Payra Port to raise the danger signal to 7 and Barishal River Port to hoist cautionary signal No. 2 as Cyclone Hamoon intensified, said Inspector Kabir Hossain of the BIWTA River Safety and Traffic Department. All passenger vessels at the Barishal River Port were barred from service from 10:30 am on Tuesday due to adverse weather, he said.

Barishal had experienced 8 mm of rain in the district from 3 am to 6 am, said Bahir Ahmed Howladar, chief of the Barishal Met Office.

The Barishal Disaster Management Committee held an emergency meeting to mitigate the effects of Hamoon. The local administration took all preparations to confront Cyclone Hamoon, said Barishal Deputy Commissioner Shahidul Islam.