Fog halts flights for 10 hours

Persisting dense fog has been disrupting travel by air, river and road for the last four days.

Flight operations at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport were halted for 10 hours since early yesterday, causing delay in all domestic flights and diversion of three international flights, insiders said.

At Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, three international flights and several domestic flights were delayed for the same reason, said officials of different airlines.

Passengers travelling by road and river also had to suffer and were stuck for several hours on the way, report our correspondents.

Regular operation at the Chittagong Port was also hampered due to the fog.

At HSIA, the Kuala Lumpur-Dhaka and Muscat-Chittagong flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines were diverted to Kolkata, while another international flight of Biman was diverted to Chittagong, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh Spokesperson AKM Rezaul Karim told The Daily Star.

The three flights were scheduled to land in the morning.

Besides, around 14 domestic flights were delayed by one to three hours, he added.

Poor visibility forced the airport authorities to stop both inbound and outbound flights from 1:00am to 11:00am yesterday, he informed.

A Chittagong-bound flight of US Bangla Airlines from Muscat landed at Kolkata airport due to unfavourable weather. The aircraft landed in Chittagong at 12:30pm after staying in Kolkata for three hours.

Another flight from Singapore landed in Chittagong instead of Dhaka. Besides, three domestic flights of the airlines were delayed, said an official.

A Dhaka-Chittagong-Bangkok flight of Regent Airways and two domestic flights of Biman were also delayed, said officials of the airlines.

“Flight operations have been disrupted since Saturday due to fog,” said Airport Manager Wing Commander Mohammad Reazul Kabir.

Scheduled berthing of seven incoming vessels -- five container vessels and two bulk cargo carriers -- was suspended due to dense fog, said Md Omar Faruk, secretary of the Chittagong Port Authority.

FERRY SERVICES DISRUPTED

Ferry services on Paturia-Daulatdia and Shimulia-Kathalbari routes were again suspended for several hours yesterday.

People, especially women and children, have been suffering badly as the services were disrupted for four consecutive days resulting in huge traffic congestion on both sides of the Padma river, report our correspondents.

Shafiqul Islam, manager of Bangladesh Inland water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Daulatdia office, said they suspended ferry services around 4:30am to avoid any accident.

Six ferries were stuck in the mid-river, seven were stranded at Paturia and three others were stranded with vehicles and passengers.

The services resumed around 11:00am when the fog had cleared, he said.

Hundreds of passengers of south and southwestern districts are facing serious troubles due to the disruption.

Around 800 vehicles were seen lined up at Paturia, while 600 others were lined up at Daulatdia, reports our Manikganj correspondent.

On Shimulia-Kathalbari route, ferry service was halted for over four hours and resumed around 10:00am.

Four ferries were stuck in mid-river, while around 200 vehicles were stuck on both sides of the river, our Munshiganj correspondent writes.

TAILBACK ON ROAD

Miles-long tailback of hundreds of vehicles was created on both ends of the Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge early yesterday, causing sufferings to passengers and transport workers.

Slow movement of vehicles due to poor visibility was the reason behind the situation, police and transport workers said.

Abdul Mannan Miah, driver of a northbound goods-laden truck, said it was difficult to drive through the dense fog.

The toll plaza was also temporarily closed to avoid accidents.

The Traffic Control Room of Bangabandhu Bridge, however, said vehicular movement was not suspended on the bridge.

Asabur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Bangabandhu Bridge East Police Station, said the traffic situation began to improve at noon.