Kathalbari ferry terminal being moved
Kathalbari Ferry Ghat in Madaripur is being shifted to Banglabazar, 500 metres upstream of the Padma, for facilitating construction of the Padma Bridge and protecting the river bank.
With this relocation, ferries and launches from Shimulia Ghat on the other side of the river have to cross 13 km, instead of 12.5 km now, to reach the new ghat.
A ferry now takes about one and a half hours to reach Kathalbari from Shimulia. It will take 10-15 minutes more to reach the new ghat, Shafayet Ahmed, BIWTC manager at Shimulia Ghat, told this newspaper.
Two ferry terminals at Kathalbari Ghat have already been shifted to the new site. Two other ferry terminals and the launch and speed boat terminals will be relocated within a week, said officials of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC).
In July, 2017, Kathalbari Ghat was shifted to the present site from Kawrakandi in Shibchar upazila due to river erosion.
Sharful Islam, executive engineer (river management) of the Padma Bridge Project, said the main channel of the river runs through Kathalbari area.
"A three-km stretch of the river bank is unprotected. We need to start dredging and work of river bank protection immediately. The ferry ghat had to be relocated from there," he mentioned.
Sixteen ferries, 82 launches and more than 400 speedboats operate on this route.
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