Water Vessels

'Stop carrying of excess passeners'

21 August 2011, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

A parliamentary committee yesterday asked the shipping ministry to take all out measure to stop carrying of excess passengers in water vessels during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr. The House watchdog on shipping ministry also asked the authorities concerned to ensure that no unfit launch or other types of water vessel can carry passengers taking the advantages of demand during Eid. “We have strongly asked the authorities not to give licence to any unfit launch, which has been repainted to give it a new face before the Eid,” Noor-E-Alam Chowdhury, chief of the committee, told reporters after the meeting at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. The committee also recommended that no surveyor of inland waterways give permission to any launch for carrying excess passengers during the Eid vacation. Besides the rough weather, carrying excess passengers and plying of unfit vehicles are the reasons behind tragic accidents, especially during Eid, the committee chief observed. Chowdhury, also a ruling Awami League MP, said they asked the ministry officials to enhance monitoring activities and take stern actions against violation of rules. The committee also asked the inland waterways transport authority to ensure that every launch has a master and a driver during its journey. A new ferry will be added on Kawrakanda-Paturia river route to reduce traffic backlog on both sides, the committee was informed.