Passengers will be required to show their national identification (NID) cards or birth certificates to board a launch and similar vessels to travel ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, said State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury.
The new rule will be imposed for mass travel in an orderly manner and to curb the possibilities of accidents, the minister said on Sunday, reports bdnews24.com.
Launch authorities will keep a record of the NID cards or birth certificate numbers and those yet to get a NID will be required to keep a photocopy of their birth certificates, he said.
“The new rule will be enforced starting this Eid,” the minister said, adding that it was taken to ensure public safety.
Moreover, the system will help authorities to track victims in case of an accident, especially for launches operating on routes along the country's coastal regions, the shipping minister said.
The 83 launches which operate on the river routes from Mawa during the day will now extend their shift into the night for the passengers’ convenience. However, speedboats and sand-laden trawlers will not be allowed to operate at night, he said.
Khalid also said necessary initiatives will be taken to increase the number of ferries at the Mawa terminal. Currently, six ferries are operating there.
The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation can operate 51 ferries across the country ahead of Eid, he said.
The minister hoped that the vessels will not be too crowded as garment workers will be granted leave steadily from Apr 27, and not all at once.
When asked about the fare discrepancy in launches, the minister said all vessel authorities must follow government guidelines so that they cannot pull a large crowd by offering a low fare.
The new rule comes in the wake of yet another tragic disaster in Bangladesh's waterways after a trawler transporting a group of mourners to a funeral capsized in Barishal.
The death toll from the incident in Mehendiganj rose to five on Sunday as the authorities recovered the bodies of a missing woman and a five-year-old child two days after the incident.