Passengers' suffering worsens for silted channel

The usual channel through Naodoba has silted up causing the Mawa-Keorakandi ferries to detour 20 kilometers.
The ferries now need one hour more to reach the destination through Kauliar Char, the new channel.
Frequent plying of ferries has been reduced resulting in huge traffic jams at Mawa and Keorakandi ghats, officials say.
Ferry service on Mawa-Keorakandi route remained suspended for seven hours Sunday night as Ro-Ro ferry Shaheed Barkat ran aground on a shoal in Naodoba channel, Md Ashikuzzaman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) said yesterday.
Ashikuzzaman said Shaheed Barkat was salvaged at 3:00am yesterday and the channel was reopened, but authorities closed the route after three hours as another ferry Raniganj went aground on another shoal in Naodoba.
A four-kilometre long tailback developed on both ghats causing untold miseries to homebound people ahead of Eid, he added.