The char areas of Lalmonirhat and Bogra districts see increasing use of horse-drawn carts, serving as convenient vehicle in the remote sandy lands in river basin areas most of the year.

Our Lalmonirhat correspondent reports: Introduction of a large number of horse-drawn carts has eased communication in the char areas.

"I carry passengers on boats in the Teesta river when there is sufficient flow during monsoon for three to four months from July to October and I work as a coachman in the char areas rest of the year,” said Manowar Hossain, 45, of Teesta Char Gobordhan of Aditmari upazila in the district.

"We transport agricultural products from char areas to mainland, and bring necessary goods from there. Sometimes char people use our broughams to carry ailing people to hospitals,” said Nazrul Islam, 48, another coachman in the area.

Around 250 to 280 horse-drawn carts are used daily for transporting goods in around 100 char areas along Teesta and

Dharla rivers in the district, said Hamidur Rahman, 42, a cart driver at Char Dawabari area of Hatibandha upazila.

"We getTk 25-30 for transporting one maund (40 kg) of goods in four to five kilometres of char areas in a horse cart. We can transport up to 10 maunds of goods in each trip," he said.

"On an average 1 earnTk 600 a day and half of it is spent for buying horse's feed,” said

Hossain Ali, 35, a coachman at Char Bowalmari in Dharla river basin area of Lalmonirhat Sadar.

However, many char people, failing to afford the fare of horse carts, still carry goods by themselves, walking miles on the sandy land, said Mosaddeque Hossain Chowdhury, chairman of Mahishkhocha union parishad.

Several locals have urged the government to arrange free trans-

PHOTO: STAR port on broughams for ailing and elderly people.

Our Bogra correspondent reports: Visiting the char areas along the Jamuna and Bangalee rivers in Sariakandi, Sonatola and Dhunat upazilas under the district during the ongoing dry season, one would frequently come across horse-drawn carts.

In Sariakandi upazila, hundreds of horse-carts ply Char Kazla, Hat Sherpur, Kaluabari,

Kornibari, Bohail, Chandanbaisha and Kornibari areas, helping people to carry their goods during the dry season, said Alamgir Hossain, an inhabitant of Kaluabari.

"I have made a horse cart using old rings, tyres and tubes of motor vehicles and wood and bamboo spending around Tk 35 thousand and bought a pair of horse for Tk 20 thousand. I have started using it to carry people and goods on the sandy char," said Sourav Kumar.

A horse-drawn cart costs around half of a bullock cart and it can move on the sandy char land much easier than a bullock cart, he added.

Horse-drawn carts are now playing an important role in carrying goods and passengers in the chars area, said Md Abdur Rashid, upazila social service officer of Sariakandi.

Arrangement of easy-term loans from banks would encourage more people to buy or make horse-drawn carts and arrange transporting people and goods in the remote areas, he said.