BIWTA Halts Launch Trips

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has halted the operation of launches from Dhaka to the southern parts of the country as Hamoon turned into a severe cyclonic storm.

The BIWTA announced a suspension of all launch service plying from Sadarghat to the coastal district in the south as a precaution, said its Deputy Director (Media) Mobarak Hossain Majumdar.

The river port in Dhaka has been asked to hoist local cautionary signal No. 1 while the river port in Chandpur was asked to hoist cautionary signal No. 2, said ABS Mahmud, a BIWTA officer.

Currently, launches are allowed to ply only on the Sadarghat-Chandpur and Sadarghat-Shariatpur routes. Some launches left for the southern districts yesterday, but none will leave today, Mahmud said.

The authorities will halt launch service on the Dhaka-Chandpur route too, if the cautionary signal is raised, he added.

Bhola and Barishal will feel the major effects of a cyclone when it comes to Barishal division, said BIWTA Deputy Director Abdur Razzak. Hence the authorities ceased the operation of all river vessels in all of the rivers in the Barishal division, he said. The order will be effective until the weather improves.

Hamoon is likely to move north-northeast and may cross the Barishal-Chattogram coast near Bhola by Wednesday afternoon as a cyclonic storm, the Met Office forecast.

The cyclone, however, has yet to have much impact in Barishal as of 12 pm on Tuesday. The sky remained cloudy and there was a lack of wind making the weather quite hot, locals said.

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department asked Payra Port to raise the danger signal to 7 and Barishal River Port to hoist cautionary signal No. 2 as Cyclone Hamoon intensified, said Inspector Kabir Hossain of the BIWTA River Safety and Traffic Department. All passenger vessels at the Barishal River Port were barred from service from 10:30 am on Tuesday due to adverse weather, he said.

Barishal had experienced 8 mm of rain in the district from 3 am to 6 am, said Barishal Met Office Incharge Bahir Ahmed Howladar.

The Barishal Disaster Management Committee held an emergency meeting to mitigate the effects of Hamoon. The local administration took all preparations to confront Cyclone Hamoon, said Barishal Deputy Commissioner Shahidul Islam.