Reza Mahmud :
Several miles long gridlocks in front of the Daulatdia and the Kawrakandi ferry ghats on Saturday created untold sufferings for the Dhaka bound passengers coming from the southern districts after celebrating Eid ul Azha.
Bus passenger Nur-e-Alam told a group of reporters, “We have been waiting for three hours at Daulatdia Ferry Ghat for clearance. We do not know when we shall be able to reach Dhaka.”
He said, their bus stopped at three kilometers distance from the ferry ghat at 10:15am. The bus could advance one kilometer only in three hours, which exposed their helplessness to the road jam.
Sources said, the three ferry ghats out of four rendered services. The ghat No. 2 collapsed due to river erosion. The bus drivers and passengers alleged that the sufferings at Daulatdia had become regular phenomenon. “From our experience we can say that the BIWTA does not look after the passengers’ facilities and that is why it takes no initiative to construct a permanent terminal,” said Anisuzzaman, a bus driver at Daulatdia ferry ghat.
Contrarily, the officials said, they are working to resolve the crisis. “We are working to make the ghat completely workable. We found ghat No. 2 unable to work yesterday, but it is giving service today,” said, Md. Shah Alam, Sub-Assistant Engineer of BIWTA.
Officials said, the ferries cruise very slowly due to severe tide. As a result, several hundred buses, microbuses and private cars have jammed the front side of the ghat. Witnesses said, the gridlock is several kilometers long. It has created unstated sufferings for the elderly, woman and child passengers. Sources said, the long gridlock at Daulatdia influenced many bus drivers to go to Kawrakandi Ferry Ghat, creating also tailback there.
The witnesses said, passengers from Khulna, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Jessore, Jhenaidah, Kushtia, Magura, Faridpur, Rajbari, Gopalganj, Shariatpur, Madaripur, Barisal and other districts have been trapped in those sufferings.
“A driver left us at three kilometers away from the ghat. There was no way, but to walk to get launches. How can we walk several kilometers with our kids and big bags?” said Abdur Rahim, a passenger from Khulna.
The passengers started for the capital and other cities from Wednesday to resume their duties after the holidays.
The public and private offices opened on Thursday after six-day Eid holidays. A large numbers of people were seen returning on Saturday.
