Fuel crisis halves speedboat operations on Bhola-Barishal route

Operators have been forced to close more than half of speedboats on the Bhola-Barishal route due to a patrol crisis, causing immense suffering to passengers and leaving many workers without jobs.

Some 105 speedboats would run from Bhola's Bheduria ghat. Now more than half of them have been closed, and the remaining are also near closure due to a fuel crisis.

The Bhola-Barishal speedboat service launched from Bheduria ghat in 2004. While launch takes around two and a half hours to reach Barishal from Bheduria, speedboats take roughly just 40 minutes.

Speedboat driver Md Moktar Hossain said he would receive a salary of Tk 500-600 per day from a boat owner, who has now closed his speedboats due to petrol shortages, leaving him four to five days with no earnings.

"My speedboats have operated at Bheduaria ghat for nearly 20 years, but I did not face such a crisis. I have been forced to keep my boats idle at the ghat for the last seven days," said speedboat owner Md Saiful Islam.

Asked deputy commissioner (DC) Shamim Rahman, he said he is not aware of the fuel crisis, and no speedboat owners communicated with them.

Jewel Saha Bikash/MSU