FE Report
Almost all modes of communication were severely disrupted as dense fog continued to sweep across the country from Friday night until Saturday morning, badly affecting the movements of both people and commodities.
Delay in transportation also affected smooth supply, pushing up the prices of some essentials and raising further the woes of consumers.
Dense fog over two key river routes -- Paturia-Daulatdia and Shimuliya-Kathalbari -- caused 10-11 hours of halt in ferry services on Friday-Saturday night.
On the other hand, 14 intercity trains were 3.0-10 hours late at the Kamalapur Railway Station (KRS) in the city due to
foggy weather and a collision in Comilla, said officials.
The Met Office in its 72-hour forecast said moderate to thick fog might occur over the country during mid-night to morning and it might continue at places till noon.
It said mild to moderate cold wave is sweeping over Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh and parts of Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong divisions.
Lowest temperature was recorded in Panchagarh and Jessore at 7.0 degree centigrade while minimum temperature in Dhaka was 11.5 degree centigrade on the day.
However, the ferry services witnessed 10-11 hours delay in Paturia-Daulatdia and Shimulia-Kathalbari river routes on Friday-Saturday night and resumed at around 10:30 am on the day when the fog was cleared, BIWTC spokesman Nazrul Islam Misha told the FE.
He said the ferry movement between Paturia and Daulatdia has been suspended at around 11:00 pm Friday to avoid any unwanted incident.
Four ferries with more than 200 vehicles remained stuck in the mid-river while at least seven ferries stranded on both sides of the river Padma, the BIWTC official said.
Ferry communication on the other key routes, including Chandpur-Shariatpur-Vola-Lakkhipur, also witnessed 8.0-10 hours of delay between Friday and Saturday, he said.
The train services across the country suffered massive schedule mismatch on Saturday, amid the foggy weather. A collision at Comilla aggravated the situation.
The trains on different routes were 3.0-10 hours behind their respective schedules, intensifying sufferings to the travellers.
The rail communication of Dhaka with Chittagong and Sylhet were halted, following a collision between a Demu train and a truck at Banasua in Sadar upazila of Comilla.
The collision took place at around 8:45am when a sand-laden truck hit the Comilla-bound Demu train at an unauthorised level-crossing, an official at Bangladesh Railway (BR) said.
The train communication resumed at 3.0 pm, he said.
Chittagong-bound Sonar Bangla, Karnaphuli Express, Mohanagar Provati, Suborno Express left KRS 6.0-10 hours late as a result.
Meanwhile, the foggy weather caused schedule failure of another 10 trains, creating hazards for thousands of people waiting at the KRS.
North-Bengal bound Rangpur Express, Nilsagor Express and Ekota Express, Netrokona-bound Mohua Express, Jamalpur-bound Teesta Express, Ogneebina Express, the Rajshahi bound Dhumketu Express and Silk City witnessed schedule breakdowns.
Manager of KRS Shitanshu Chakrabarty told the FE that the trains from distant districts were too much late to enter the capital due to the foggy weather.
Nilsagor Express, which left Nilphamari at 8.40 pm Friday, reached Dhaka at 12.30 pm on Saturday against scheduled time of 6.40 am, he said.
He said the train drivers have been asked to go slow as many ones were even unable to see signals at night in many places amid the persisting foggy weather.
Trucks and pickup-vans, loaded with daily essentials on the highways, also faced difficulties due to foggy weather as it took additional 8 to 12 hours to reach their destinations.
Imran Ali Master, a Karwan Bazar-based vegetable trader, said that the delays of trucks were affecting smooth supply of vegetables.
He said that only 50 vegetable-laden trucks reached the wholesale market early morning as against around 200 in the normal days.
He said that the prices of vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, brinjal, tomato, leafy increased slightly in last two days amid short-supply.
Air traffic movement, however, was also disrupted as a Singapore-bound flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG 086) was rescheduled at 12.45am Sunday against the scheduled time of Saturday 9.00pm, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) spokesman Md Rezaul Karim told the FE.
He said almost all the domestic flights, especially those scheduled in the morning, were delayed on Saturday amid foggy weather.
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