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He said Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) should rather focus on improving services on its ferry routes.

The BIWTC currently operates ferries on seven wide rivers.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) maintains ferry terminals and carries out dredging to keep the river channels navigable for ferries and other vessels.

WHAT DO SHIPPING MINISTRY, BIWTC SAY?

According to the working paper of the February 11 meeting, the shipping ministry on November 24, 2022 held an inter-ministerial meeting on introducing the BIWTC’s ferry service on different new routes.

The meeting, chaired by then shipping secretary, decided that ferry routes operated by the RHD will be handed over to the BIWTC and the BIWTA “for the sake of keeping the river routes navigable by carrying out dredging round the year and overall economic development,” reads the document.

If necessary, steps will be taken to amend laws or rules, it said, adding that the Prime Minister’s Office had issued a directive on taking necessary steps for keeping all river routes navigable by dredging.

It also mentioned that the BIWTC and the BIWTA have been operating ferries on major river routes “with reputation”. However, opening of the Padma Bridge, which boosted road communication, reduced river traffic a little bit, the document reads.

In this given situation, if the ferries run by RHD are handed over to BIWTC and BIWTA, “people will get more benefit”, it reads.

Asked whether the BIWTC is capable of operating such a large number of ferries, its Chairman AKM Motiur Rahman claimed, “We have the capacity.”

He said many of their staffers were sitting idle after the closure of Shimulia-Kawrakandi ferry route, the largest one in the country, following the opening of the Padma Bridge in June 2022.

But the BIWTC drew huge criticism due to the poor salvage operation after a ferry sunk in the Padma at Paturia of Manikganj recently. Besides, it earned bad name after its ferries hit the pillars of the under-construction Padma Bridge several times in 2021.

Motiur further claimed that the RHD does not have the necessary expertise to operate ferries and that they have to help the RHD in case of any problem.

Under this circumstances, the government decided to bring all ferries under the shipping ministry and the next meeting would discuss how the decision can be implemented, he added.

Replying to a question, the BIWTC chief said they wrote a letter to the RHD in this regard, but the RHD did not reply.

WHAT DO RHD, ROAD MINISTRY SAY?

Jamal Uddin, additional chief engineer (mechanical wing) of the RHD, said they have developed expertise in operating and maintaining ferries through working for decades.

The RHD now operates 126 ferries with 52 ferry terminals and 131 pontoons across the country, according to RHD’s annual report for 2022-23.

The department has dedicated circles and divisions with a good number of staffers for planning, operations, and maintenance of ferry service, Jamal Uddin said. “What will they do [if the ferries were handed over to the BIWTC]?”

RHD Chief Engineer Syed Moinul Hasan said every government agency has its rules of business and ferry service is integral part of their job.

“Providing ferry services is our responsibility. There is no scope for handing it over overnight,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.

BM Amin Ullah Nuri, secretary of Road Transport and Highways Division, said they did not get any formal proposal on handing over ferries to the shipping ministry.