Paturia-Daulatdia river terminal
We travelled to greater Faridpur district recently from Dhaka. We were stranded in Paturia ferry ghat for several hours in the morning. We did not mind as the weather was foggy and ferries could not cross the river as visibility was poor. An act of God . The Ferry anchored .We proceeded. The road to ferry was a dirt road though - not good for the tires. We crossed and returned on the same day.
It was all chaos in the late evening in Daulatdia end on our return trip. There were two lines of private cars, jeeps, SUVs, private mini buses etc , instead of one. The ghat controllers cleverly made the approach road to ferries in such a way that there was passage for only one file of loading vehicles and one file of unloading vehicles. We were hauled from one line to another and we had to fight with the ghat touts . They mete out favours to the deserving ones (Read bribe) in collusion with ghat controllers . One minibus hit a car and a fighting chaotic situation prevailed for some time. Ever body was in a hurry which in fact delayed the process of loading of the cars into the ferry. One car tried to overtake our car in collusion with the touts. Then we, law abiding professionals from Dhaka, decided to take a firm stand and announced that we were going to place our car blocking all the cars to their way to the ferry. It yielded the desired result! So, muscle power and might won instead of rules and laws!
In view of the above scenario we suggest the followings as remedial measures for mitigation of sufferings of people in the above ferry route.
The ferry ghat controllers ought to give serials to the boarding cars while tickets are issued.
The approach road to the ferry should be paved.
More ferries should be commissioned on Paturia- Daulatdia ferry route.
We request the minister concerned, IWTC, IWTA to consider the above suggestions, set out rules and act in the interest of the common law abiding citizens.
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