Launch owners have decreased the number of vessels plying the Dhaka-Barishal route due to shortage of passengers and price hike of fuel.

Three launches ply the Dhaka-Barishal-Dhaka route each day, the MV Manami’s Director Ahmed Jaki Anupam said after a meeting of launch owners of the Bangladesh Inland Waterways Association in the capital on Tuesday.

A total of 18 launches have been categorized into six groups to operate on the route per day, he said.

Director Anupam informed that the Barishal-bound launch from Dhaka will reach around 5am after departing around 8pm. On the other hand the Dhaka-bound launch from Barishal will also leave at 6am and arrive around 8pm on the same day. 

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He further said decision to stop overtaking among launches was taken at the meeting. All the decisions taken at the meeting will be implemented within four to five days.

Mahbub Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram presided over the meeting where its Vice President Bodiuzzaman Badal, Managing Committee’s Convenor of Dhaka Rivers Ports Water Traffic Plying Mamun-Or-Rashid and launch owners were present.