Hundreds of vehicles waiting to cross river at Paturia terminal

Hundreds of vehicles are waiting at Paturia ferry ghat in Manikganj to cross the Padma River as the pressure of vehicles has increased at Paturia ferry ghat due to a ban on heavy vehicles at Shimulia-Banglabazar route.

The pressure of private vehicles has also increased manifold due to Durga Puja and weekly holidays.

While visiting the ghat around 12pm, our Manikganj correspondent found over 700 goods-laden trucks, over 300 private vehicles and over 150 long-distance buses waiting at the Paturia ghat.

The problem has also worsened due to closure of a terminal for dredging.

Passengers from 21 south and southwest districts of the country traveling on this route are suffering due to the tailback of vehicles at the ghat.

Talking to this correspondent, many bus passengers and drivers said this suffering could have been alleviated if the authorities had taken precautionary measures.

Mohiuddin Russell, assistant manager (commerce) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) in Aricha office, said pressure of vehicles increases every Friday compared to other days. Due to Puja, the pressure of passengers and vehicles has increased even more and the problem was exacerbated by the closure of a ghat due to dredging. Vehicles are crossing the river using 19 big and small ferries.

Passenger and emergency vehicles get priority in crossing which has resulted in goods carrying vehicles being stuck at the ghat, said the assistant manager.