Due to the opening of the Padma Bridge, there has been a great impact on the waterways, reducing travel time and suffering in the southern region with Dhaka. According to the official one, passengers have decreased by 40 percent after the opening of the bridge. However, there is some light of hope, compared to last year, the number of passengers by sea has increased by 9 percent this year. Launch owners said that there is a slight increase in various festivals including Eid, but there is a shortage of passengers during the rest of the season. Because of this, the launch is moving in rotation. More than half of the launches sit idle in this process. They have to count their losses. Already some launches have been cut (scrap) and sold.

Large-scale passenger launches mainly operate from the Dhaka river port (Sadarghat) to the southern districts of the country. Majority of passengers travel from Sadarghat. Apart from this, there is passenger movement in small launches on various domestic routes. A duty of Tk 10 per passenger is collected at the time of entry to the Sadarghat terminal. The amount of money collected indicates that seven lakh 85 thousand 206 passengers left Sadarghat in one month and 25 days before the launch of Padma Bridge in 2022 (May 1 to June 25).

On the other hand, 4 lakh 75 thousand 863 passengers traveled in one month and 25 days from February 1 to March 25. According to this, the number of passengers has decreased by 3 lakh 9 thousand 343 people or 40 percent. This information is known from related sources.

Officials of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) said that the actual number of passengers is 20 percent more. As many passengers boarded the launch by boat, duty could not be collected from them. Many enter the terminal without duty. They also said that now the number of passengers has increased due to the Eid season. The launch trip has also increased. 54 launches left till 7 pm on Sunday. Another 26-30 launches were waiting to be launched. The previous day on Monday, 77 launches left Dhaka with passengers till late night. Passengers will increase after today’s last working day before Eid. They expect the launch to leave with more than 100 passengers on this day. Several officials of BIWTA and launch owners said that before the launch of Padma Setu, the picture of overcrowding of passengers at Sadarghat during the Eid season is no more.

The image of Sadarghat has changed with the construction of Padma Bridge. Order has returned here too. I can see the joy in people that they are able to navigate the launch naturally, there is no jostling. No more pictures of people and crowds of people reaching the roof of the launch. He said that the Sadarghat has been improved for the convenience of passengers, and new pontoons and gangways have been provided. Many launch owners have introduced e-ticketing systems. Because if you can’t provide good service in this place, people will turn away. The environment is good. Our people are trying their best. This effort to serve the passengers will continue.

Padma Bridge was inaugurated on June 26, 2022. Since then, the number of passengers on the waterways has decreased significantly. According to the amount of toll collected for entry to Sadarghat, 4 lakh 38 thousand 684 passengers went in the month of May before the bridge was opened. 3 lakh 45 thousand 522 passengers went on the 25th day of June before Padma Bridge was opened. In that one month and 25 days, there were 7 lakh 85 thousand 206 passengers. A year later, in May 2023, the number of passengers was only one lakh 93 thousand 391 people. And on the 25th day of June there were 2 lakh 13 thousand 130 people. In other words, the number of passengers decreased by more than 48 percent during the same period the year after the opening of the bridge.

May-June of this year has not come yet. However, from February 1 to March 25, 4 lakh 75 thousand 863 passengers passed through Sadarghat. Compared to 2022, the number of passengers decreased by 3.3 lakh 9 thousand 343 people this year. However, compared to 2023, passengers have increased by about 70 thousand this year.

Convener of Sadarghat Standing Committee of Launch Owners’ Organization Bangladesh Inland Navigation (Y-P) Organization. Mamun-Or Rashid told Media that launches used to operate on 41 routes from Sadarghat. Due to lack of passengers, the launch does not operate on 7-8 routes. On the occasion of Eid, the launch has started again on some routes. He said, we have 190 launch route permits. 70-80 are going on this Eid season. It is not possible to run the launch only with the income generated by trips to various festivals. He claimed that if seamless travel from Gulistan to Sadarghat can be arranged, the number of passengers in the launch will increase.

BIWTA Joint Director Alamgir Kabir told media that due to traffic congestion on the road from Gulistan to Sadarghat, commuters suffer a lot. We have informed the concerned authorities. He said that if transport systems like metrorail or flyover are added up to Sadarghat, the number of passengers on the waterway will increase again.