Ferry services resume on Aricha-Kazirhat route after 19 years

The government re-launched ferry services on the Aricha-Kazirhat route on Saturday, about 19 years after its suspension aiming to reduce public sufferings.

Services on the route had been suspended in 2002 following the shifting of Aricha ferry ghat to Paturia ferry ghat due to poor navigability.

State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury inaugurated the ferry services at Aricha ghat in Manikganj district on the day.

The distance between Aricha ghat and Kazirhat ghat is 14 kilometres.

It will take one and a half hours to reach Kazirhat from Aricha while one hour and 10 minutes to reach Aricha from Kazirhat.

A big and two medium-sized roro ferries will be operating on the route.

Each bus will have to pay Tk 2,060 for getting per trip ferry service while truck Tk 1,400, microbus Tk 1,000, private car Tk 680, motorcycle Tk 100 and passenger Tk 25.

While inaugurating the services, the state minister said the government has re-launched ferry services, marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Ferry service on the route will help transport equipment to Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and other heavy vehicles carrying goods to and from Dhaka to north-western districts and vice versa.

It (Aricha-Kazirhat) is an important route for connecting capital Dhaka with the country's north-western districts, considering socioeconomic aspects.

Ferry services between Aricha and Nagarbari remain shut after commissioning of Bangabandhu Bridge as Nagarbari ferry ghat was shifted to Kazirhat (eight kilometres away Nagarbari).

Using ferry services on the Aricha-Kazirhat route is economically viable and less time-consuming for the people of Greater Pabna and other adjoining districts for travelling to the capital instead of using Bangabandhu Bridge.

Before launching ferry services, passengers had to depend on speedboats and launches for movement between Aricha and Kazirhat.

A total of 2.8 million people used speedboats and launches for travelling on Aricha-Kazirgat route last year.

Naimur Rahman Durjoy MP, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority chairman Commodore Golam Sadeq and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation chairman Syed Md Tajul Islam were also present at the inaugural ceremony, according to the shipping ministry.

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