Hundreds of vehicles waiting to cross Meghna in ferry

Due to the navigability crisis due to the creation of numerous underwater chars in the Lakshipur part of the Meghna River, the ferry movement on the route of Ilisha in Bhola and Maju Chowdhury in Lakshipur has been disrupted, and around 300 trucks, vans and buses carrying goods have been stuck on both banks.

Businessmen of Bhola Barisal, Patuakhali, Khulna, Bagerhat, Pirojpur, Jhalkati and Barguna use this route, especially for easy transportation of goods and trade with Chittagong, Comilla, Sylhet, Narayanganj and even Dhaka.

But during monsoon, the upstream water flow increases and carries a lot of silt and accumulates in the downstream meghna. As a result, when the flow of water in the Meghna gets reduced during the dry season, it creates numerous underwater pastures and creates a navigability problem in the river.

Talking about it, Parvez Khan, Bhola Elisha Office Station Manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), said that during normal days, a ferry takes 3/4 hours to go from Elisha Ghat to Mozu Chowdhury Hat, which is 35 km away, but during the dry season, it takes 7/8 hours due to lack of water in the river and submerged forage.

As a result, from time to time numerous traffic jams are formed on both banks of Meghna. On the one hand, due to the perishable goods vehicles not reaching their destination on time, the traders face huge economic losses. Truck drivers Manik Mia, Abu Taher and Jamal staying at Elisha Ferry Ghat said they are waiting to cross for 3 days with watermelon and curry from Bhola Charfashion. Their watermelons have already started rotting.

By dredging the area or if the ferry ghat is shifted from Moju Chowdhury's Hat to Moti's Hat, it is possible to cross the ferry in 2 hours. The distance between Elisha and Maju Chowdhury's hut will be reduced by about 15 km. Like the Bhola Lakshipur road, Lakshipur Motirhat road has already been made suitable for heavy vehicles.