Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) will construct another ferry terminal at Mongol Majhi ghat of the Zajira-Shimulia route in a bid to ease traffic movement ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. Commodore Golam Sadeq, chairman of BIWTA, said this new ferry ghat will be opened to the public on April 28 considering the rush of  home goers during Eid festival.   Also read:Two drown, 3 missing as ferry sinks off Barishal coast The BIWTA chief told reporters this week the Mongol Majhi ghat will be shifted to another place to construct a new ghat and ease the pressure of vehicular movement. Earlier, he exchanged views with the local public representatives, upazila administration, law enforcement agencies and civil societies to examine the feasibility to construct the ghat.   Besides introducing a new ghat, BIWTA has decided to run ferries on the Banglabazar-Shimulia route at night. At present, three ferries ply on the route from 7am-5pm to avert a collision with the Padma Bridge. According to BIWTA and BIWTC, ferry services started at Sattar Madbor and Mongol Majhi ghat of Zajira in December last year as alternative ghat as ferries had hit pillars 16 and 17 of Padma Bridge on July 20 and 23 and pillar 10 on August 9, 2021. On August 25, BIWTA and BIWTC had jointly constructed a new ferry ghat Mongol Majhi ghat to ensure emergency services. However, the ghat was unused due to a lack of navigability in the river till December.   The new ferry ghat will be constructed by shifting Mongol Majhi ghat to 400 metres far from the existing place.   Golam Sadeq said, "We have a time limitation. We instructed people concerned to open the ghat for vehicular movement from April 28 by completing the construction work of the ghat. Hope, the construction work will be started within a day or two in Zajira." Also read:Ferry services resume on Paturia-Daulatdia route after 4 hours He also said BITWA has increased the number of ghats to ensure the carrying of the passengers during disaster-prone weather. "Movement of ferries will be kept normal during Eid on Shimulia-Majhirghat and Shimulia-Banglabazar route. Banglabazar ferry ghat will be closed permanently and Majhirghat will be a modern one by renovation after the inauguration of the Padma Bridge," Golam added.    

Launch owners have called off their strike, part of the wider transport strike protesting a 23 percent hike in the price of diesel, following a decision to increase fares by upto 42 percent. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has increased the fares for short distance-journeys by 35.3 percent, and for long distances by 42 percent. Read:Striking association unveils 3-pt charter of demands The decision was made at a meeting between the BIWTA authorities and launch owners in the capital on Sunday. Launch fare has been fixed at Tk 2.30 per kilometre for the first 100 km (from Tk 1.70/km), and then Tk 2/km beyond the first 100 km, which used to be Tk 1.40 . The minimum fare has also been fixed at Tk 30, a two-thirds increase or 66.7 percent up from the existing Tk 18. BIWTA Chairman Commodore Golam Sadeq said the new fares will be effective from today (Sunday). A notification will be issued regarding the increased fare soon. Moreover, each launch dock will have the new fare list. The BIWTA chairman said, “The launch fares were last increased in 2013. After that the fare was not adjusted." Read:Strike called off as bus fares raised Meanwhile, the chairman said a committee was working anyway to increase the fares in response to the demands of the owners, before the fuel price hike came in. "In the meantime, the price of fuel has been increased. Then the owners urgently demanded a fare adjustment." "We have taken everything into consideration while fixing the new fares so that the passengers do not suffer, nor the owners face losses," he added. Earlier, the launch owners suspended their services on Saturday, demanding that the fares be doubled.   A section of leaders of transport workers and owners met Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal but the meeting made no headway.  

Salvage vessel ‘Rustom’ on Saturday joined the operation to rescue the ferry that sank at Paturia terminal with 21 vehicles on Wednesday. The salvage operation resumed at 8 am while ‘Rustom’ reached the spot at 9am. ‘Rustom’ is now keeping the sunken covered vans and trucks rescued earlier on the river bank while ‘Hamza’ is trying to salvage another sunken covered van. Read: Paturia ferry accident: Rustom to join rescue ops; one more van retrieved So far, five trucks, seven covered vans and three motorcycles have been recovered. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) joint director and in-charge of the rescue operation Fazlur Rahman said another sunken covered van has been detected and they are trying to retrieve it from water. “When all the vehicles will be recovered we will start operation to salvage the sunken ferry. We will take alternative plan it the ferry could not be rescued with ‘Hamza’ and ‘Rustom’,” he said. The process to handover the retrieved vehicles to the owners has started and some of the owners held a human chain at 12 pm on the river bank seeking compensation from the government. A 3-km tailback has been created at Paturia terminal due to movement of a limited number of ferries. The two probe committees formed by the Ministry of Shipping and Manikganj district administration visited the accident spot at Paturia terminal-5 on Thursday evening. Read: Ferry capsizes at Paturia dock Head of the district probe committee, additional magistrate Sanwarul Haque said that "a report will be submitted within seven working days". Around 9.30am on October 27, the ferry -- Amanat Shah -- capsized near Paturia's number five ferry terminal with 14 trucks, vans and seven motorcycles on board. The vessel tilted after water gushed in through a crack in its bottom while it was preparing to anchor at the dock.

Launch services resumed here on Thursday morning, with the government easing the lockdown curbs for a week ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. On Wednesday, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury visited Sadarghat Launch Terminal and asked the authorities to ensure that all passengers comply with Covid-safety protocols. Read:Now mad rush to return to Dhaka; river terminals overcrowded again “Everyone should follow health safety guidelines and those found without a mask will be fined,” he had said. Khalid had also urged the launch owners and officials of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) to remain alert in view of the worsening Covid situation in the country. On July 13, the Bangladesh government decided to ease all lockdown restrictions in the country for eight days ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. In a notification on Tuesday morning, the cabinet division said that the lockdown restrictions would be lifted from July 14 midnight to the morning of July 23. Read: 5 die in stampede, heatstroke at Banglabazar ferry terminal However, strict restrictions will resume from July 23 and will continue till August 5, as per the order. A record rise in the number of Covid cases and fatalities in recent days prompted the government to enforce a nationwide stringent lockdown. All modes of public transport, including the road, river, rail and air, remained suspended during the lockdown. On June 22, the authorities suspended the movement of all passenger vessels in Narayanganj, Gazipur, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Madaripur, Rajbari and Gopalganj to curb the spread of Covid in these districts. Read: Homebound people flock at launch and bus terminals dreading ‘lockdown’ Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) announced its decision to suspend the movement of launches, speed boats and trawlers on June 21, following the Cabinet Division’s circular on the imposition of lockdown in these seven districts. However, the restrictions won't apply on the movement of cargo vessels and emergency services. And legal action will be taken against violators, according to the BIWTA notification.

Authorities have suspended the movement of all passenger vessels in Narayanganj, Gazipur, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Madaripur, Rajbari and Gopalganj since Tuesday morning to curb the spread of Covid in these districts. Read:Lockdown in 7 districts from Tuesday as Covid cases soar Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) announced its decision to suspend the movement of launches, speedboats and trawlers on Monday, following the Cabinet Division’s circular on the imposition of lockdown in seven districts. According to a notification by BIWTA, vessel movement from Dhaka to other parts of the country will also remain suspended during the period. Read:Kushtia enters week of strict lockdown till June 27 However, the restrictions won't apply on the movement of cargo vessels and emergency services. Legal action will be taken against violators, said the notification.

A large number of people gathered at Paturia-Daulatdia ferry ghat in their desperate bid to go home to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr amid coronavirus risk, thanks to slack monitoring by the local administration.

A floating isolation unit has been opened at a passenger launch for coronavirus-infected patients at the River port here on Friday.

The government has taken measures to ensure the navigability of 10,000 kilometers of waterways through digging 178 rivers, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury told Parliament on Sunday.