Passenger service via sea truck has been launched on Jamthal-Kalitla route in Sariakandi upazila of Bogura district. State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury MP on Thursday inaugurated the passenger service at Jamthalghat in Sariakandi upazila of Bogura district.
State Minister after exchanging views, reached Kalitala Ghat in Sariakandi by sea truck. He addressed the meeting as the chief guest there.
Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has gifted an aesthetic Bangladesh. For this, authorities have taken up the Jamuna Corridor project. "We have already started work on building 10,000 km of waterways across the country," he said. We have already set up a naval base in the Payra Port area.
Seeing our development, different countries of the world have started extensive activities to invest in this country. Various experts thought that millions of people would die in Covid-19 in our country.
But with the strong steps of the PM Sheikh Hasina, we have been able to control Covid-19.
The State Minister for Shipping said that no government came forward to protect Sariakandi. The Awami League government has saved Sariakandi from river erosion.
Awami League Organizing Secretary MP Mirza Azam addressed the meeting as a special guest presided by MP Sahadara Mannan. Bogura District Awami League President Mojibur Rahman Majnu, Jamalpur District Awami League President Advocate Baki Billah, Bogura District Council Member Dr Maqbool Hossain, Bogura Deputy Commissioner Ziaul Haque and BIWTA Chairman Commodore Golam Sadeq along with other officials were present at the ceremony.
The service was launched on Madarganj and Sariakandi routes with the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation's (BIWTC) sea-truck 'Shaheed Abdur Rob Serniabad' under the Ministry of Shipping. The distance of this route is 18 kilometers. It will take 1 hour 30 minutes to go from Madarganj to Sariakandi. The capacity of the sea-truck is 200 passengers. The fare is 100 Tk per passenger.
The introduction of passenger service will be a landmark milestone in the communication system in the north. People from Bogura, Natore, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Joypurhat, Chapainawabganj will be able to travel to Jamalpur, Sherpur, Netrokona, Mymensingh very fast and at low cost. It will also be possible to transport goods at low cost. Passenger and freight transport will increase several times.
At present, the Bangabandhu Bridge built over the river Jamuna is the only means of communication between Dhaka and all the districts of Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions. The launch of passenger service on the route will be the second mode of communication in Bogura, Natore, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Joypurhat, Chapainawabganj, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Netrokona and Mymensingh.
As a result, additional pressure on roads and railways will be reduced and passenger transport system including goods transportation will be improved. With the development of infrastructure in phases, the facility of vehicle crossing will be created by introducing ferry service on this route.
