Three ferry ghats at Daulatdia ferry terminal in Rajbari are still inoperative, posing a risk of breakdown in road communications with southwestern districts during Eid journeys.
Sources said ferry operation and road communication are being disrupted due to the damages to the ferry ghats. Thousands of homebound people’s sufferings may mount during their Eid trips.
Witnesses said over eight hundred vehicles were waiting for ferries to cross the mighty river. Cattle-laden trucks were also stranded on Daulatdia side.
BIWTC officials feared that the road communications between Dhaka and 21 southwestern districts may collapse any time as the landing stations were washed away by strong current in the overflowing Padma.
A ferry now needs double time to cross the mighty river due to heavy current, as the water level is rising rapidly with the riverbanks eroding continuously, they added.
Ferry terminals on both sides of the river are witnessing long tailbacks for the last couple of weeks due to disruption of ferry services.
BIWTC official Jillur Rahaman said about 13 ferries are, however, ready for operating the Paturia-Daulatdia route, but only one landing station at Daulatdia could not keep pace for the heavy pressure of the transports.
Besides, massive soil erosion in the rover may wash away the other ghat at any moment, he added.
Md Shafiqul Islam, manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation, Daulatdia branch, said the landing station No. 1, 2 and 4 were washed away by the river water. Only few passenger buses, trucks and private cars were being transported by using the landing station-3.
Passengers, particularly patients, suffered much due to poor toilet facilities and inadequate food and drinking water at the ferry ghat.
Terminal officials said passengers’ sufferings might mount during Eid-ul-Azha journeys.
Ferry services on Daulatdia-Paturia route have been disrupted since the beginning of August due to damage to the landing stations at Daulatdia.
Around 4,000 vehicles ply the river route every day and their number would increase up to 6,000 during the Eid, BIWTA officials said.
The disruption of ferry services on Paturia-Daulatdia route continued as tidal surge in the Padma washed away three of four ghats at Daulatdia, reports BSS.
Several hundred passenger vehicles and perishable goods-laden trucks are in queues on both the sides on the route.
A number of cattle-laden trucks are also in the queue at Daulatdia point for moving to Dhaka and other places. Some cattle traders are ferrying their cattle by engine-driven boats.
BIWTA sources said though they took necessary steps to maintain the route, erosion of the riverbanks ran them into trouble. Two alternative roads and three terminals were engulfed in over one month at Daulatdia.
Shah Alam, an official of the BIWTA, said they were working relentlessly to build three new ghats at Daulatdia.