Chaos at Paturia ghat as 300 cars wait to cross Padma

News Desk :
A serpentine queue of vehicles has triggered chaos at Paturia ferry ghat in Manikganj.
Since morning, over 300 private vehicles, mostly cars, have been waiting in line at the popular ferry ghat to cross the Padma river ahead of Eid.
Private cars are stranded in the Tepra area of Dhaka-Aricha highway, 10 kms ahead of Paturia terminal. There’s a separate lane at ferry terminal no-5 for these vehicles, reports UNB.
Besides, around 100 buses and 100 trucks are also waiting at the terminal to cross the river, although the movement of all goods-laden trucks will remain suspended for three days ahead of Eid.
These trucks have been stranded at the terminal for the last three days and so the authorities are letting these heavy vehicles cross the river, said Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) DGM Shah Md Khaled Newaz.
“If the pressure of vehicles increases further, more ferries could be pressed into service,” said DGM Khaled.
Meanwhile, the authorities concerned of the ferry terminal are struggling a lot to manage the huge rush of home-bound people as 19 ferries of 21 ferries are currently operating on the Paturia-Daulatdia route.
Earlier, the movement of general goods carrying trucks has been halted due to government directives. Emergency goods carrying vehicles, however, are operating normally.
At Paturia ferry ghat, pressure of cars is slightly higher, but there is no pressure of bigger vehicles. Long-distance buses can easily reach the destination by taking the ferry from Paturia ghat.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) Deputy General Manager (Commerce) of Aricha Regional Office, Shah Md Khaled Nawaz told the media, “There are 20 ferries operating on Paturia-Daulatdia waterway.
According to sources, Paturia ferry gaht in Manikganj is struggling to handle huge rush of passengers heading towards 21 South-Western districts of the country.
Amid the mad rush of homebound people, two of the 19 ferries- Birsreshtha Ruhul Amin and Enayetpuri- on this route went out of order, increasing the sufferings of passengers.
Our Munshiganj correspondent said Shimulia ferry ghat is witnessing a massive rush of home-bound people as thousands of people are leaving the capital and other areas to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with their near and dear ones amid the pandemic.
Passengers from different parts of the country, including the capital Dhaka, have been arriving at Shimulia ferry ghat since morning and crossing the Padma River by ferry and launch.
BIWTC Shimulia ghat assistant general manager Shafiqul Islam said, “Currently we are running eight ferries in this route. In the next few days, 4 more ferries will be added to reduce sufferings of homebound people.”