BIWTA focuses on goods transportation

A BIWTA landing station at Amin Bazar. PHOTO: STAR

The widely publicised Tk 35.99 DCW project with ten landing stations covering a distance of 29.5 kilometres between Sadarghat and Ashuliya was abandoned soon after its inauguration in 2005. The project had envisaged to 'revolutionise' the transportation system for the city. Unfortunately poor planning took its toll and all activities of the first phase of the project came to a standstill. The second phase of the project from Ashuliya to Sadaghat via Balu and Sitalakhya rivers was never started.

At present the BIWTA is building an additional landing facility at Jhaochar across Kamrangirchar at a cost of about Tk 40 lakh to facilitate goods transportation. Although passenger ferrying under the DCWP stopped in 2005, the income from the eleven landing station is set to grow, a BIWTA official said.

"Last year we earned Tk 2.5 crore from landing stations situated between Kholamora and Ashuliya," said the engineer, " This year our revenue from the same stations is set to grow up to 3.5 crore."

"The landing stations with modern facilities are no longer lying idle, we are leasing them out to public, who would run transportation businesses," the engineer said.