Fog disrupts ferry service

People in the country have started feeling the chill in the air; the days are shrouded with fog in early mornings and late at nights as winter has finally arrived, albeit a little late.

The two-month long season that begins with the arrival of Bangla month of Paush continues till end of Magh.

According to the met office in Dhaka, the lowest temperature recorded yesterday was 12.5 degrees Celsius in Panchagarh's Tentulia and the highest 29.7 degree Celsius in Cox's Bazar.

As the mercury dropped the people in the capital are also feeling a chill in the air; Dhaka's lowest temperature was recorded at 14.5 degrees Celsius yesterday.

The met office in its forecast said moderate to thick fog may occur during mid-night until morning over the country in the next couple of days, while the weather may remain mainly dry with partly cloudy skies.

The cold along with fog has already started disrupting ferry, plane and launch services, interrupting people's everyday life causing the most suffering to the poor and working people. Ferry transportation on Paturia-Daulatdia route remained halted for four hours since 8:30pm on Monday, when about 16 ferries were stuck on both sides of the route and in the middle of the river Padma, our Manikganj correspondent reported.

More than 600 vehicles were stuck on both sides of Paturia and Daulatdia ferry terminals.

Nasir Mohammad Chowdhury, manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) for the route, said the fog has increased since Monday evening.

"The waterway in this route was enveloped with thick fog after 8:30pm on Monday. We decided to stop the ferry service to avoid accidents,” he said, adding that the ferry transport resumed normal services in the early hours yesterday.

Mobarak Hossain, public relation officer of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), told The Daily Star that most launches took between two and four hours to complete each trip due to the dense fog.

"The launches are running but the waterways transportation was interrupted because of the halt in ferry services," he said.

Meanwhile, two flights - one of Biman Bangladesh Airlines and another of Regent Airways - was delayed for nearly 30 minutes due to dense fog, officials of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) said.

AKM Rezaul Karim, public relations officer of Caab, told this newspaper that the inbound flight of Regent Airways from Muscat was scheduled to land at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, but forced to land at Shahjalal Airport in Dhaka due to the fog.

The flight to Shah Amanat Airport resumed later when weather conditions improved, he added.

Abdur Rahman, a meteorologist of Bangladesh Meteorological Department, said “The intensity of the fog is likely to reduce in two days.”