Ferry service faces dredging woes
Shimulia-Kewrakandi route
ANISUR RAHMAN KHAN
The Padma Bridge Authority (PMB) has declined the use of heavy dredgers to keep the Shimulia-Kewrakandi (now Kathalbari) ferry route open, prompting the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) to fear that it may have to close the route from September next. According to sources, the BIWTA does not have heavy dredgers (26-inch) to cope with the increasing siltation in the Padma to keep the route navigable.
There are complications in dumping dredge spoils due to a lack of space on the route as the PMB authority has acquired land alongside the ferry channel to dump their own silts, Saidur Rahman, superintendent engineer of the BIWTA, told this correspondent.
The PMB authority proposed to open an alternate channel to keep the ferry route open during the construction of the bridge. But the authority concerned has not kept its promise, sources in the BIWTA told The Independent yesterday.
On January 9, BIWTA secretary Abul Bashar sent a letter to PMB project director Shafiqul Islam to take necessary steps as per the decision taken at a meeting on December 14 last year. The meeting was chaired by shipping minister Shajahan Khan.
According to the letter, around 31 lakh cubic metre of silts would be removed from the Shimulia-Kathalbari ferry route in the 2017-18 fiscal year.
Silts are accumulating on the Shimulia-Magurkhand-Hazra-Charzanazat-Kewrakandi ferry route after opening a new channel through dredging in the upstream of the Lauhajang near Kabutarkhola by the PMB authority. This has caused immense difficulties to keep the ferry route navigable for south-west and Dhaka traffic, the letter said.
According to the BIWTA letter, the maintenance expenditure for dredgers has been increasing and it will be difficult to keep the channel navigable during the dry season.
There are alignments of the PMB in the ferry channel owing to lands acquired by them. So, there is no place to dump dredge spoils in these areas. Weve requested the Bridge authority to dredge the ferry channel, Abul Bashar said in his letter.
On January 12, Shafiqul Islam in a letter informed the BIWTA that the bridge authority was unable to dredge their ferry channel.
According to the PMB authority letter, They have only three dredgers that are engaged round-the-clock to maintain their channel and in pile driving work. If their dredgers are used for other purposes like ferry channel dredging, the PMB authority has to pay compensations to the contractor for time extension.
The PMB project director in his letter suggested the BIWTA chief engineer (Dredging) to conduct the dredging work under their own management.
The dredging costs of keeping the Shimulia-Kewrakandi route open for traffic rose by Tk. 46 crore because a new channel has been opened for the construction of Padma Bridge, Saidur Rahman said.
According to the BIWTA superintendent engineer, We removed 14 lakh cubic metre of silts during the 2014-15 fiscal year at a cost of Tk 21 crore, while we spent Tk 36 crore to remove 22 lakh cubic metre of silts from the Shimulia-Kewrakandi ferry route during the 2015-16 fiscal year. He also said Tk. 46 crore would be needed to remove 31 lakh cubic metre of silts during the 2016-17 fiscal year. It would be difficult to keep the channel navigable between September and December, he added.
