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).    

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has suspended launch services from Chandpur to all routes as Cyclone Mocha approaches the coast. BIWTA issued a notice in this regard on Friday night, said Deputy Director of BIWTA Shahadat Hossain. The launch services remained suspended from 11 pm on Friday. The order will remain in force until further notice. It also asked the river vessels to anchor in safe places. Also read: Cyclone Mocha: Over 1000 shelters ready in Ctg Meanwhile, Chandpur Deputy Commissioner Quamrul Hasan, said the local administration has opened 353 cyclone shelters in the district and the Upazila Nirbahi Officers have been asked to evacuate people from char areas including Chandpur Sadar, Matlab North and Haimchar upazilas to safe places as soon as possible.  

Operators on Friday abruptly suspended movement of four launches on Barishal-Dhaka route, saying that the shortage of passengers has prompted them to take the decision a day before the BNP’s rally in the capital. The BNP and associate bodies, however, claimed that the suspension order came to spoil their scheduled rally like the previous transport strikes in divisional cities. Md Kabir, inspector of inland security and traffic management of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) in Barishal, confirmed the matter of suspension on Friday evening. Read more: Barguna transport owners launch 2-day strike He said only a launch ‘Parabat-11’ will leave for Dhaka from Barishal on Friday. The suspension order of running four launches was taken considering the shortage of passengers. The movement of launches--Prince Awalad, Parabat-18, Surovi-7 and Sundarban-11--was suspended, he said. Only launches ‘Shuvoraj and Farhan-7’carrying passengers will leave Dhaka for Barishal and Jhalkati on Friday, he said. Besides, no launch will leave for Dhaka from Jhalkati on Friday. Md Sumon, a staff of the ‘Parabat-11’, said most people are not going to Dhaka fearing violence ahead of the BNP rally. UNB’s Barishal correspondent also found a thin presence of passengers in the launch compared to any other day. Read more: Launch operation resumes on Barishal-Dhaka route as BNP rally ends Maniruzzaman, convener of Barishal city unit BNP, alleged that the government has taken several tactics to foil their Dhaka rally and for that reason the decision to suspend operations of launches was taken. ‘’However, we have already arrived in Dhaka to join the rally’’, he said.  

Amid the ongoing nationwide transport strike against fuel price hike, launch owners in Bangladesh have suspended all their services on Saturday demanding that the launch fares be doubled. On Friday, Bangladesh Launch Owners Association held a meeting and sent a letter to the government for doubling fares from the current one, said vice president of Bangladesh Launch Owners’ Association Bodiuzzaman Badal. The letter, signed by association president Mahbubuddin Ahmed, said the government set the fares for launch passengers at Tk 1.70 per kilometer in 2014. Also read: Bus service to resume in parts of Chattogram as faction ends strike

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) on Sunday said launch services on all the routes will resume on Monday morning as the threat to waterways from cyclone Bulbul continues to subside.