Two more Mawa ferries down
Sunday, 3 October 2010
MADARIPUR, Oct 2 (bdnews 24.com): Two more ferryboats on the Mawa Kawrakandi route have broken down, raising the total count of inoperative boats to six, according to the operator.
More than 500 passengers were left stranded on the two sides of the Padma river as the ferries -- IT-390 and IT-394 -- ceased to function Friday morning.
Only eight ferries are currently performing the task of 14, Shahnewaz Chowdhury, assistant manager (Kawrakandi zone) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), which runs the ferries, told reporters.
The ferries now need about three hours more than that in the normal time to cross the river as they have to run an additional 25 kilometres due to decreased navigability and sandy strips on the river.
Fazlul Haque, driver of a Dhaka-bound truck coming from Jessore, told the news agency that he had been stranded on one side of the river for the past two days. "I don't know when I'll be able to reach Karwan Bazar in Dhaka."
Deepa Karmakar, a bus passenger travelling from Barisal to Dhaka, complained: "The female passengers are facing indescribable sufferings as there are no lavatories on the Kawrakandi pier for them."
More than 500 passengers were left stranded on the two sides of the Padma river as the ferries -- IT-390 and IT-394 -- ceased to function Friday morning.
Only eight ferries are currently performing the task of 14, Shahnewaz Chowdhury, assistant manager (Kawrakandi zone) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), which runs the ferries, told reporters.
The ferries now need about three hours more than that in the normal time to cross the river as they have to run an additional 25 kilometres due to decreased navigability and sandy strips on the river.
Fazlul Haque, driver of a Dhaka-bound truck coming from Jessore, told the news agency that he had been stranded on one side of the river for the past two days. "I don't know when I'll be able to reach Karwan Bazar in Dhaka."
Deepa Karmakar, a bus passenger travelling from Barisal to Dhaka, complained: "The female passengers are facing indescribable sufferings as there are no lavatories on the Kawrakandi pier for them."