Barisal Correspondent :
Bangladesh Inland Water Transportation Authourity on Saturday decided to issue show-cause notice against the master of the triple-deck water-transport MV Parabat-9 of Barisal-Dhaka-Barisal route for stranding the vessel on unmarked under water shoal in Meghna during fog.
Abul Bashar Majumdar, deputy director (river and traffic management safety) of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority at Barisal acknowledging the fact said the notice issued against master of the launch for sticking on under water shoal by operating the vessel on a route diverting from regular route.
The show-cause notice and a detailed report to the BIWTA headquarter would be send on Sunday, he added.
However he acknowledged that the vessel was running without fog lights and water depth measuring sonar equipment defying BIWTA guideline, but owner was not show caused for that.
Kamrul Islam, master of the launch, said there was no installed mechanical system to operate the vessel after loosing visibility and so the crews operate the vessels on basis of their manual instincts and may went out of route track or stuck on unmarked under water shoal at any time.
Triple-deck water transport MV Parabat-9 plying on the Dhaka-Barisal route from Sadarghat with more than 1500 passengers was stuck in a unmarked under water shoal of the Meghna River reached Barisal at 4pm Friday, about 11 hours after the scheduled time.
A large number of students traveling in that vessel failed to attend the intake examination under National University due to the delay. This led to a clash between the agitated passengers and the launch crew injuring at least four.
The 11-hour delay caused sufferings to the 1500 stranded passengers regarding health, food and sanitation.
“Port officials and launch owners also failed to send another vessel to rescue us even after repeated requests over mobile phone,” passengers alleged.
Abul Bashar Majumdar, deputy director (river and traffic management safety) of BIWTA at Barisal said the vessel was already freed from the shoal during high tide while they were taking preparations to evacuate the passengers.
About shoals remaining unmarked, Abul Bashar said the Miar Char emerged recently and BIWTA did not have enough manpower and technology to regularly keep track.##
Bangladesh Inland Water Transportation Authourity on Saturday decided to issue show-cause notice against the master of the triple-deck water-transport MV Parabat-9 of Barisal-Dhaka-Barisal route for stranding the vessel on unmarked under water shoal in Meghna during fog.
Abul Bashar Majumdar, deputy director (river and traffic management safety) of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority at Barisal acknowledging the fact said the notice issued against master of the launch for sticking on under water shoal by operating the vessel on a route diverting from regular route.
The show-cause notice and a detailed report to the BIWTA headquarter would be send on Sunday, he added.
However he acknowledged that the vessel was running without fog lights and water depth measuring sonar equipment defying BIWTA guideline, but owner was not show caused for that.
Kamrul Islam, master of the launch, said there was no installed mechanical system to operate the vessel after loosing visibility and so the crews operate the vessels on basis of their manual instincts and may went out of route track or stuck on unmarked under water shoal at any time.
Triple-deck water transport MV Parabat-9 plying on the Dhaka-Barisal route from Sadarghat with more than 1500 passengers was stuck in a unmarked under water shoal of the Meghna River reached Barisal at 4pm Friday, about 11 hours after the scheduled time.
A large number of students traveling in that vessel failed to attend the intake examination under National University due to the delay. This led to a clash between the agitated passengers and the launch crew injuring at least four.
The 11-hour delay caused sufferings to the 1500 stranded passengers regarding health, food and sanitation.
“Port officials and launch owners also failed to send another vessel to rescue us even after repeated requests over mobile phone,” passengers alleged.
Abul Bashar Majumdar, deputy director (river and traffic management safety) of BIWTA at Barisal said the vessel was already freed from the shoal during high tide while they were taking preparations to evacuate the passengers.
About shoals remaining unmarked, Abul Bashar said the Miar Char emerged recently and BIWTA did not have enough manpower and technology to regularly keep track.##
