Ferry services on the Paturia-Daulatdia route were disrupted due to strong currents and increasing water-level in the Padma.

Only seven ferries, out of 16, were operational yesterday.

Authorities feared that the seven ferries might face technical trouble while operating against strong currents.

Meanwhile, several hundred vehicles were stranded on both sides of the river due to the disrupted ferry services.

Visiting the Paturia ferry terminal around 3:00pm yesterday, this correspondent saw around 300 buses and trucks waiting in line to cross the river.

Many passengers complained about being stuck at the terminal for hours.

“We reached Paturia ghat around midnight on Wednesday. But our bus could not board a ferry until yesterday noon,” said Alamgir Hossain, who was traveling to Jashore from Dhaka with his family, on a Sohag Paribahan bus. 

Passengers of a Green Line Paribahan bus had similar complaints.

Meanwhile, truck drivers said they were facing even more delay as ferry operators prioritise buses over trucks when the vehicles board the ferries.

Some truck drivers claimed that they had been waiting there for three days to board a ferry.

Authorities said that ferries cannot ply the usual route due to strong currents, so the ferries have to go through an alternative route, which takes twice the time to cross the river.

“That is why the number of ferry trips have come down drastically,” said Zillur Rahman, acting assistant general manager (AGM) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation.

Abdus Sobhan, another AGM, said two out of the six jetties were damaged due to the strong currents and the operators are failing to anchor their ferries. 

Meanwhile, M Mahbubul Islam, chairman commodore of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, yesterday visited the Shimulia-Kathalbari river route in Munshiganj and directed the officials concerned to take all necessary measures and ensure uninterrupted ferry services there, reports our district correspondent.