Launch owners not worried over Padma bridge opening

Launch operators in the country's waterway-dependent southern region think the completion of Padma bridge will have little impact on their business.

When passengers will start using the bridge, the number of water transport users may see a 20 per cent drop, but, at the same time, goods transportation through waterways will increase, they believe.

Besides, the number of VIP passengers could increase as well, allowing launch operators to raise the cabin fare for the new services they will introduce to remain competitive.

That is why, the operators are not that much worried about the opening of the multipurpose bridge.

"Around 25,000-30,000 people use the Barishal route every day to go to Dhaka by launch from Barishal, Bhola, Charfashion, Patuakhali, Bauphal, Hularhat and Barguna," said Mostafijur Rahman, an officer of Barishal River Port.

The number of passengers increases by up to 5 times during the Eid and other festivals, he said.

About 35 launches with nearly 2,000 cabins are there to cater for about 2,000-3,000 passengers a day in the domestic route, he said.

Every day, 10 launches travel to Dhaka from Barishal and the number of trips doubles during Eid, Rahman told The Daily Star.

"As per our calculations, we could witness a maximum 20 per cent reduction in the number of passengers," said Saidur Rahman Rintu, owner of the Sundarban Navigation Company.

Besides, no mode of transportation is cheaper when it comes to shipping goods while road transport is very expensive, he said.

It takes just Tk 200 to transport goods by launch, which are also perfectly safe and comfortable for travel, Rintu added.

"So even if the number of passengers on the launch deck decreases slightly, the number of passengers in the cabins and VIP cabins will not fall while goods transportation will mark a rise."

"We are trying to provide better services to encourage more people to use the waterways," said Rejin-ul-Kabir, owner of a Dhaka-Barishal passenger ferry named Surovi.

According to the Sundarban authorities, the Sundarban-18 will be launched within six months, which will include new facilities such as VIP cabins, general cabins and lifts.

The water vessel owners also believe the passengers will prefer using the water routes than the bridge or road transports, as launches offer comfortable beds to the commuters during the journey.

"I love to travel by launch because of the comfort it offers," said Ali Jasim, who has been a regular passenger of water vessels for a long time.

"I sleep the whole time since boarding the vessel at 8pm from Barishal to reaching Dhaka terminal in the morning. The routine remains the same on my way back to home. The journey is so comfortable that I never feel tired."

At present, about 3,000 people travel from Barishal to Dhaka by road every day and this number increases by 4 to 5 times during Eid.

If comfortable and fast-moving buses are introduced on the route, many people would start taking their service, said Kishore Kumar Das, secretary of the Barishal Bus Owners' Association.

As a result, at least 5 times more people could use the road every day, Das added.