Fog disrupts ferry services on two key waterways

Heavy fog on the Padma River disrupts ferry services on the 2 routes

Rajbari, Jan 11 - Ferry movement on two of the country’s vital waterways came to a halt on Saturday morning due to heavy fog on the Padma River, disrupting transportation for several hours.

However, services resumed after a three-hour shutdown.

While there was no fog overnight, a sudden fog engulfed the river basin early Saturday. As a result, ferry services on Manikganj’s Aricha and Pabna Kazirhat routes were suspended at 6:20am. The shutdown lasted until 9:35am, when ferry operations resumed, according to The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC).

In addition, ferry movement between Manikganj’s Paturia and Rajbari’s Daulatdia was also affected. The fog caused ferries to stop operating from 7:20 am at Paturia and from 7:30 am at Daulatdia. Services on this route resumed around 10:15 am, nearly three and a half hours later.

Aricha BIWTC Assistant General Manager Mohammad Salah Uddin said, there was no fog on the river overnight, and it was only in the early hours of Saturday that the fog became dense, hampering ferry operations.

At the Daulatdia ghat, approximately six ferries were stationed with loaded vehicles while four more ferries were anchored at Paturia.

Zaman Paribahan Supervisor Monir Hossain said several buses, along with other vehicles, reached the ferry terminal around 7 in the morning. Following the fog, authorities halted all ferry operations. As a result, at least a hundred Dhaka-bound vehicles were stranded at the ghat.-UNB