Shipping Minister to launch water buses on 110-km waterways around Dhaka

Shipping Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam has said that the government will launch water buses on 110-km waterways around Dhaka. The decision was taken at a meeting on the development of circular waterways around Dhaka chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Sunday (August 2).
After the meeting, the Shipping Minister said that the private sector will be involved in launching water buses on 4 rivers. He said that a two-month plan has been taken for this and after two months we will be able to involve them here. He said that a part of the river route from Ashulia to Narayanganj via Sadarghat is passenger-friendly.
He also said that water buses operate on short distances in Hatirjheel and the passenger pressure is also high there. Besides, this service is popular as there is no major obstacle in traffic movement. However, on routes that are one and a half to two hours long, where the same destination can be reached in 30 to 40 minutes by road, passengers lose interest in water buses. The Shipping Minister said that the circular waterway has incurred a loss of Tk 57 crore in the last 10 years. He also said that plans are being made on how to make the waterway profitable.