Nearly 250 launches are operated from Sadarghat and around half of them claim to be luxury vessels, but most of them do not maintain any safe water system on board.

For millions of people living in the southern part of Bangladesh, waterway is the most favourite mode of transport. A nightlong sleep in the motor launch usually ships them to the capital city or to their destinations out of the capital.

There is a 5,968 km long network of navigable inland waterways in the country. During rainy season about 8,400 km is navigable by large vessels.

During journey the passengers are compelled to rely on the river water as all vessels fill their reservoir with severely polluted river water. The problem aggravates in dry season when river water are extremely contaminated.

Nazem Ali Mridha, 85, comes to Dhaka from Mirzaganj, Patuakhali several times every year to see his sons and grandchildren. To reach Dhaka, he usually takes launches of Dhaka-Amtoli route. As long as Mridha can remember, river water is the only source of water for launch passengers, especially those who travel on the deck. "Launch usually starts at 5pm and reaches my home terminal at around 6 next morning. Imagine the suffering of a 13-hour journey without water," said Mridha.

"I have been coming to Dhaka for the last 20 years. I am a regular deck passenger. Every time I travel I have to carry drinking water in bottles," Mridha added. He said that using toilet in a launch is the most awful experience. "For deck passengers toilets are situated at the back. They keep a bucket there with rope attached to its handle. Whoever goes to the toilet has to lift water from the river using the bucket. I am an old man and it is a painful task for me," he said.

"I saw many incidents when people fell into the river trying to get water from the river", said Mridha.

"Some launches have installed tube-well recently. Toilet waste is directly released into the river. The distance between the pipes that release water from the toilet and the tube-well pipe is hardly one or two feet," said Jalal Khan, a regular passenger.

A large passenger launch can carry around 500 to 800 people on board. Launch companies always carry more than the capacity. During festival season they carry unlimited number of passengers.

Food served in the launch canteen always seems stale. Drinking water provided there is also filthy. BIWTA officials never inspect the condition. "Canteen staff claim that they serve tube-well water and also use it to wash dishes but I have doubt," Jalal said.

Fatema Mannan, a resident of Mirpur and regular passenger of Dhaka-Jhalakathi route said, "Launch workers claim that they fetch water from tube-wells when they start from Dhaka and again from Barisal. But I found the water in the cabin dirty always."

"I can never imagine eating at the restaurant of any launch. So I always carry food and water from home," she added.

When contacted, Badiuzzaman Badal, acting chairman of Bangladesh Inland Waterways Passenger Carrier Association, refuted the allegation.

He said that they are providing deep tube-well water for drinking. However, he admitted that they get water from the river for toilet use.

"We collect water from large rivers like Meghna, not from Buriganga, Shitalakhya or any other polluted rivers," he claimed.

"Passengers want tube-well water for every purpose including toilet use, but it is not possible to carry that amount of water while travelling," he added.

"We pay taxes to the BIWTA. The passengers pay Tk 3 while entering the terminal. So BIWTA should consider this and arrange safe water for passengers," he said.

Magistrate Rokon-ud Dowlah told Star City, "I was not aware of this awful condition. I will definitely look into the matter."