Paturia, Shimulia Routes: Fog disrupts ferry service for hours

Reduced visibility caused by a dense fog disrupted ferry services across the Padma, causing long tailbacks on both sides of the river yesterday.

Buses full of people and hundreds of trucks had to wait for up to nine hours to go across the river.

Ferry services from Shimulia-Banglabazar and Paturia-Daulatdia are considered gateways to 21 of the country's southern districts.

Meanwhile, a Met office bulletin yesterday said the temperature dip may persist for a while.

"Mild cold wave is sweeping over the regions of Rangamati, Sreemangal, and Panchagarh and it may continue."

"Night and day temperatures may remain nearly unchanged over the country," it said.

"Weather may remain dry with a temporary, partly cloudy sky over the country. Moderate to thick fog may occur during midnight to morning."

In its 72-hour outlook, the bulletin said temperatures may rise at night.

Yesterday's lowest temperature was recorded at 9 degree Celsius in Sreemangal, Moulvibazar.

Our correspondents in different districts reported suspension of ferry services and the resulting public suffering yesterday.

On the Shimulia-Banglabazar route, ferry services got suspended early yesterday.

"The fog was so thick that ferry operators could not see. So, we suspended the service around 2:00am to avoid accidents," said Abdur Nur Tusher, manager (commerce) at Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) office in Shimulia.

"The service resumed at around 9:00am in the morning," he told The Daily Star.

Passengers were stranded on both banks of the Padma, having to wait for hours to board ferries.

"I was heading towards Barishal from Dhaka on a bus that reached Shimulia around 3:00am. But I had to wait for around seven hours to board a ferry," said Abdul Hai.

Trucks had to wait longer as other vehicles got priority when the services resumed.

"The ferry authorities first allowed passenger vehicles to board. I had to wait for around nine hours to board a ferry," said truck driver Jamal Hossain.

On the Paturia-Daulatdia route, ferry operations remained suspended for around six hours from 10:00pm on Friday.

"The lights that point to the ferry routes became invisible due to a thick fog," said Zillur Rahman, deputy general manager of BIWTC at Aricha, Manikganj.

"The service resumed around 4:00am early Saturday when the fog started clearing," he told The Daily Star.

Over 300 vehicles were stranded at Paturia terminal due to suspension of the ferry service, he added.

[Our Manikganj correspondent contributed to the report]