Avoid Shimulia ghat, use Paturia route, BIWTC requests
After several incidents of ferries hitting the pillars of the Padma Bridge, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) Friday requested all to use Paturia ferry ghat, instead of Shimulia ghat, to cross the mighty Padma River.
However, BIWTC cited ferry crisis on Shimulia-Banglabazar route as the reason of shifting the vehicles to the Paturia-Daulatdia route.
Earlier on Friday morning, a ferry hit pillar number 10 of the bridge again just three days after another incident. In the past two months, at least five such incidents of hitting pillars took place.
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Meanwhile, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury on Friday said the ferries that ply on the Shumulia-Banglabazar route will install an outer layer of rubber for the security of the Padma Bridge.
The layer of rubber will act to cushion the blow from the vessels' bodies on the concrete pillars.
The state minister said they feel embarrassed at the alarming frequency with which vessels have been hitting the pillars of the Padma Bridge.
"Banglabazar ferry ghat can't be used any more after the Padma Bridge is launched fully because of the overall security of the bridge. In that case, we want to shift the ferry ghat to Majikhandi," the state minister said.
