Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) on Saturday suspended launch services on Daulatdia-Paturia and Aricha-Kazirhat routes as Cyclone Mocha approaches the coast. Traffic Inspector at the Ghat, Aftab Hossain, said launch services remained suspended from Saturday morning. The order will remain in force until further notice. Also Read: Cyclone Mocha: Launch services on Chandpur route suspended According to the latest weather bulletin, the very severe cyclonic storm Mocha over east central Bay and the adjoining area is likely to intensify further, move in a north-northwesterly direction and cross Cox’s Bazar-North Myanmar coast by 6 pm on Sunday (May 14).    

Ferry services on Paturia-Daulatdia and Aricha-Kazirhat routes resumed on Monday morning, after 11 hours of disruption caused by thick fog. Shah Md. Khaled Nawaz, deputy general manager (Commercial) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), said ferry services remained suspended from 11 pm on Sunday due to poor visibility and those resumed around 10 am today. Read more: Ferry services on Chandpur -Shariatpur route resume after 8 hours Three ferries remained stranded in the middle of the Padma river and operation of 11 more ferries was cancelled on the routes, he said. About 300 vehicles also got stuck on both sides of the river due to the suspension of the ferry services, said the official.

Ferry services on the Paturia-Daulatdia and Aricha-Kazirhat routes resumed this morning, after 11 hours of disruption caused by thick fog. Ferry service on Paturia-Daulatdia route remained suspended from 10:30 pm on Saturday due to poor visibility. Services resumed around 9 am today, said Shah Md Khaled Nawaz, deputy general manager (Commercial) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Aricha point. Read more: Ferry services on Daulatdia-Paturia route resume after 6 hours Meanwhile, ferry service on the Aricha-Kazirhat route was suspended from 9:30 pm last night and resumed at 9:30 am this morning as fog started to dissipate. Four ferries on Paturia-Daulatdia and two on Aricha-Kazirhat routes were stranded in the middle of the Padma. Over 300 small and large vehicles were seen waiting on both sides to cross the river, causing immense suffering for the passengers amidst the cold, the BIWTC official added. Read more: Dense fog disrupts Daulatdia-Paturia ferry services

Ferry Services on Daulatdia-Paturia and Aricha-Kazirhat routes in the Padma River resumed on Wednesday morning after six hours of suspension due to poor visibility caused by dense fog. Ferry services on Daulatdia-Paturia route was suspended around 5:30 am due to poor visibility caused by dense fog, said Aricha office of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC). Ro Ro ferry ‘Bhasha Shaheed Barkat, Shaha Jalal, Enayetpuri and Utility Hasna Hena in Daulatdia and Ro Ro ferry Keramat Ali, Shah Makhdum, Birsreshestha Matiur Rahman, Khanjahan Ali, Utility Chandra Mallika and K-type Ferry Cumilla remained anchored at the Daulatdia and Paturia ferry ghats One ferry got stuck in the middle of the river. The ferry services on Daulatdia-Paturia resumed around 11:30 am after the disappearance of fog. Also read: Ferry services on Daulatdia-Paturia, Aricha-Kazirhat routes resume Meanwhile, the ferry services on Aricha-Kazirhat route suspended around 4:30 am due to dense fog, causing immense sufferings to the passengers. The ferry services on the route resumed around 10:45 am, after nearly six and half an hours of disruption.  

Ferry service on Daulatdia-Paturia and Aricha-Kazirhat route resumed after remaining suspended for more than two hours since early Monday due to poor visibility caused by thick fog. As thick fog started appearing on the river basin of these two routes from midnight and it turned heavier with time the authorities decided to suspend all ferry services, according to Aricha office of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA). Ferry service remained suspended from 6am till 8:30 am on Rajbari-Daulatdia and Manikganj-Paturia routes, while it remained suspended on Aricha-Kazirhat route from 5 am till 8:30 am. Apart from ferries the authority also suspended the movement of all types of water transports to avoid accidents. Total 16 large and small ferries remained anchored at Daulatdia, Paturia  and Aricha-Kazirhat terminals and of them two were forced to anchor in mid river. Ro-ro ferry Shah Makhdum and Utility Madhabilata that move on Daulatdia-Paturia route remained stranded with at least 30 vehicles and 200 passengers in mid river due to fog, causing an immense trouble to the stranded passengers at terminals and in mid river amid the cold. Najrul Islam, a private office worker, said he started on motorcycle for Rajbari from Savar early morning but had to wait for more than two hours amid  cold at the terminal. “The ferry services were disrupted as the risk of accidents amid thick fog became apparent this morning. Two ferries leaving for terminals of Daulatdia-Paturia waterway lost direction after reaching the mid river in  the heavy fog. Both ferries were asked to anchor immediately,” said  Shah Md. Khaled Nawaz, deputy general manager (Commercial) of BIWTC at Aricha point. However all ferry services resumed after 8:30 am as the fog got cleared, he said.