Ferry operations on Aricha-Kazirhat waterway have been suspended since Saturday evening due to low navigability in the approach channel. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) made the decision at 6pm on Saturday mentioning safety concerns. As a result, over 300 goods-laden trucks got stranded on both sides of the river, causing immense suffering of drivers, labours and passengers awaiting transport. Abu Abdullah Rony, manager of BIWTC's Aricha commercial office, said that the channel's water levels are insufficient, making ferry operations risky. "The buildup of silt in the Aricha approach channel has reduced the river's depth, obstructing ferry movement. To prevent accidents, we had no option but to suspend services," he said. Read: Ferry services resume on Aricha-Kazirhat route after 56 hours Nasir Mohammad Chowdhury, deputy general manager of BIWTC's Aricha regional office, said that at least eight feet of navigable depth is required for ferries to operate safely. However, the channel currently has less than six feet of depth. "Under these conditions, continuing operations was impossible, so we had to stop ferry services from Saturday evening," he added. With this, this ferry service has been suspended three times this month.

Ferry services on the Aricha-Kazirhat route have been suspended due to poor navigability, leaving 300 goods-laden vehicles stranded on the river.Nasir Mohammad Chowdhury, deputy general manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at the Aricha point, said several ferries were stuck on hidden shoals on Friday due to the poor navigability in the Padma River, forcing the authorities to halt ferry services multiple times.Finally, ferry services on the Aricha-Kazirhat route were suspended at 10 pm on Friday after a ferry got stuck on a hidden shoal in a remote area near Aricha, he said. Ferry capsize in Padma: sunken ferry, six more vehicles yet to be retrievedA total of 300 goods-laden vehicles were stranded on both the Padma River due to the suspension of ferry services.The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) started dredging work, and ferry services will resume once the work is completed.

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 the Daulatdia-Paturia route resumed this morning after more than six hours of disruption caused thick fog. Mohiuddin Russel, Manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) Aricha sector, said ferry services on the Daulatdia-Paturia route were suspended at 3 am due to poor visibility caused by the dense fog. Two ferries were stuck in the middle of the river while twelve others were stranded on both sides of it, he said. Read: Shell out more for your daily ferry ride!

Commuters waiting to cross the Padma river had a harrowing time Saturday morning, with the authorities suspending ferry services on the Daulatdia-Paturia route due to dense fog. Mahiuddin Russel, manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Aricha point, said the ferry services remained halted from 3 am owing to poor visibility. Three ferries remained stranded in the middle of the Padma and operation of 11 more ferries were cancelled on the route, he said. Also read: Ferry services on Daulatdia-Paturia resume after 7 hrs Several vehicles also got stuck on both sides of the river due to the suspension of the ferry services, he said. ‘’The services will resume once visibility improves," he added.  

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.  

Commuters waiting to cross the Padma river had a harrowing time Sunday morning, with the authorities suspending ferry services on the Daulatdia-Paturia route due to dense fog. Md Salah Uddin, manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Daulatdia point, said the ferry services remained halted from 6 am owing to poor visibility. Read more: Erosion disrupts ferry service in Daulatdia Three ferries remained stranded in the middle of the Padma and operation of 10 more ferries were cancelled on the route, he said. Sohel Molla, who has been waiting at the ferry terminal to go to Dhaka by an ambulance from Faridpur, said, “My brother suffered a stroke on Saturday night and was admitted to Faridpur Heart Foundation Hospital. After the initial treatment, the doctor referred him to Dhaka. We came at the ferry terminal around 6 am and got stuck here due to the ferry suspension following dense fog.” Read more: Ferry gets stuck in Meghna shoal, passengers rescued At Daulatdia point, all vehicles, including long-haul buses, were seen moving slowly with their headlights on Dhaka-Khulna highway due to the dense fog. Several vehicles also got stuck on both sides of the river due to the suspension of the ferry services, Salah Uddin said. ‘’The services will resume once visibility improves," he added.

More than 400 passengers have been rescued from a ferry that ran aground in a shoal in the Meghna river in Chandpur district, officials said on Wednesday, The passengers of the Barishal-bound ‘Sundarban-11’ were actually rescued by another vessel ‘MV Surovi-7’, according to the officials. Alam Sardar, master of the stranded ferry, said that ‘Sundarban-11’ carrying over 400 passengers experienced a technical glitch around midnight on Tuesday while heading towards Barishal. "When it reached near Mohonpur in Chandpur, I steered it to a nearby shoal to avoid any untoward situation," he said. Faruk Hossain, a passenger on the ferry, said it experienced the technical glitch around 11pm and got stuck in the shoal around 12am, creating panic among the passengers. Meanwhile, ‘MV Surovi-7’ that was passing by spotted the ill-fated ferry and rushed to its rescue, officials said. "All the passengers were rescued around 2am on Wednesday."