City to get second launch terminal

10 December 2011, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

The shipping ministry has taken the initiative to construct a new launch terminal in the city's Postogola to reduce the excessive pressure of passengers on Sadarghat Launch Terminal, the lone river terminal of the city. The main aim is to ease passengers' suffering and reduce the gridlock in Sadarghat area, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan told The Daily Star yesterday. The final decision to start construction will be taken within this week or the next, he said. “Launches of two or three southern districts like Bhola, Borguna and Patuakhali would anchor in the new terminal. Some portions of Sadarghat Launch Terminal would also be shifted to the new terminal,” said Shahjahan. Although the minister did not say anything about the estimated cost, an official of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) said it might be around Tk 8 crore. “We will hold a meeting with the stakeholders on Wednesday. We will then chalk out the next course of action,” he said. The shipping minister and other BIWTA officials visited the spot for the new terminal on Friday and directed to evict temporary kitchen markets erected on the roads from Shyambazar to Sadarghat.