Thousands of homeward bound people are crowding the Shimulia-Kathalbari river port to reach to their ancestral homes defying the extended lockdown directives during the Eid holidays to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the country.
The river port, which was operating on a limited scale following the lockdown has increased the number of ferries since Monday morning to handle the huge crowd and to ensure safety to the desperate homebound people.
Around 13 ferries were operating on the port for a couple of weeks, while it was decreased to four ferries to discourage the growing crowd on Sunday to 11 am Monday, according to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) officials.
“However, as the number of vehicles and people were surging starkly at the river port and over-crowded ferries can lead to fatal accidents, we increased the number of ferries to 12 on Monday afternoon,” said Assistant General Manager of the Shimulia river port, AGM Md Shafikul Islam.
The decision was taken after the Munshiganj District Administration consulted with the BIWTC chairman of Musnhiganj, the river port authority says.
On a field visit, more than two hundred vehicles and thousands of people were seen are waiting to cross the river through the busy over-crowded ferries.
