Home-bound people face hassles at Sadarghat

Talha Bin Habib | Published: July 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

The home-bound people had to face some hassles Sunday including delayed departure of most of the launches and extra fares as several thousand Eid holidaymakers thronged the Sadarghat river terminal on way to their respective village homes.
Many launches were seen carrying passengers beyond their capacities putting the lives of passengers at risk.
The government at a meeting with the launch owners on July 16 pledged to ensure adequate security to the passengers so that they could get aboard the launch smoothly.
Although the government has said it would not allow passengers to travel on the rooftop of the launches, the number of law enforcing agencies was inadequate compared to the number of 'extremely increasing number of passengers', according to the travellers.
Most of the passengers suffered a lot on the day since they had to go through sufferings on the day due to delayed departure of most of the launches.
"I reached the terminal at 2:00 pm from Mohammadpur with my family members for travelling to Barisal by Parabat-9. Now it is almost 6:00 pm but the launch is yet reach to the pontoon," Md Saiful Islam told the FE on the day.Â Â Â
When contacted the authority of the launch said the delay was not intentional; rather acute jam of other launches at the pontoon forced it to delay departure.Â Â
A section of passengers alleged that they were charged with higher fares both at the deck and the cabin by some launch operators. But the persons engaged in selling tickets of the launches asserted that they were strictly following the government's directives.
The fare for the deck on the Dhaka-Barisal route is Tk 200-Tk 255 and single cabin Tk 800 and double cabin Tk 1,500. But in practice many launches charged Tk 300 from the passengers for the deck while for single cabin Tk 1,000 and double cabin Tk 2,000.Â Â Â Â Â Â
Asked whether the launch owners were charging high fares against the government-fixed rate, an influential leader of the inland water vessel owners said they will take action against the launch owners if they take extra fares from the passengers.
"We will take action against the launch owners if they charge extra fares from the passengers," chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport (passenger carriers') Association Mahbub Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram told the FE at Sadarghat terminal on the day.
He said if a launch owner violates the decision, then the owners might face stern actions that include even the cancellation of route permit.
He said a launch gets timetable for operation after having fitness certificate issued by the Directorate General (DG) of Shipping.
Some 150 launches of 46 routes were scheduled to sail off the terminal on the day.
"We have intensified security of the passengers. We are committed to ensuring their security," a high police official of the Lalbagh zone told the FE.