Shimulia-Kathalbari Ferry Route CLosed Sine-Die

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) has announced an indefinite closure of ferry services on the Kanthalbari-Shimulia route. For the past few days, the navigability crisis and strong currents on the Padma River have been disrupting ferry traffic.

BIWTC Kanthalbari Ghat Manager Abdul Alim said the decision was taken due to the navigability crisis and strong currents in the Padma River on Thursday (September 3). Besides, due to the safety of the Padma Bridge, the ferry service was kept closed from 6 pm to 6 am every day to avoid accidents.

He added that when the ferry service resumed this morning, two ferries got stuck in the middle of Padma due to a navigability crisis. The authorities then decided to stop the ferry service. Later, the BIWTC authorities suggested using an alternative route by miking.

Thousands of passengers and transport workers immensely suffered since Wednesday as they were left stranded in gridlocks on roads adjacent to the ferry terminals, said Profulla Chouhan, assistant manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Shimulia ghat.

Ferry services on this route had been facing troubles since last week but last night it became severe, he said.

Due to strong current and navigability crisis, many ferries had gotten stuck in shoals of the river in the last few days.