Ctg City, Coastal Island Areas
Home-goers travelling on unfit trawlers
Shortage of BIWTC vessels blamed
Acute shortage of state-run vessels plying between Chittagong city and its nearby coastal islands has escalated the miseries of thousands of home-bound people ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Only one out of four vessels of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) now runs towards Hatia and Sandwip islands from the port city.
The scarcity of BIWTC vessels is forcing people to cross the channel by privately owned trawlers and motorised boats, most of which do not have any fitness certificates and clearance from the authorities concerned, travellers said.
People are being compelled to board the only BIWTC-run vessel to twice its capacity, putting their lives to risk, they added.
The state-run authority, however, has cared less for repair of its vessels that remained grounded for long, and arranging additional trips on the route.
The mismanagement and negligence by the higher authority have caused this situation, an official of BIWTC, preferring not to be named, told The Daily Star.
Earlier, BIWTC used to operate four vessels-- MV Alauddin, MV Matin, MV Manirul Haque and MV Baro Awlia--for transportation of people in coastal islands.
At present, the authority is operating only one vessel, MV Matin, with three trips a week as the rest others are kept in dockyards for repair and maintenance.
Finding few alternative means of communications, people board the vessel to twice its capacity, said Md Ibrahim, a commuter.
"The situation will turn even more volatile before Eid if the problem is not addressed urgently," he added.
Sources at BIWTC, however, said MV Manirul Haque, which went out of service one month back, is set to resume its operation by Tuesday.
Md Nurul Alam Akand, deputy general manager of BIWTC, Chittagong, told The Daily Star that MV Manirul Haque is now being repaired. “We are trying to make it operational as early as possible,” he added.
According to BIWTC office, MV Alauddin has been kept in the Sitalakkhya River at Narayanganj dockyard since 2009 for repair works.
MV Baro Awlia, which was bought from China in 2000, was operational till June 22, 2011. It is now kept at Chittagong dockyard to have it repaired.
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