After one and a half months, Assam’s Inland Water Transport (IWT) department on May 7 resumed passenger ferry services over river Brahmaputra in Guwahati adhering to all the COVID-19 lockdown norms, top officials said.
IWT department Director Pabitra Ram Khound said that from May 7, the passenger ferry services would continue to operate daily. “All the COVID-19 norms including physical distancing, wearing of face masks, hand-washing and sanitization are being followed before moving each vessel from the ghats,” Khound told the media.
Each vessel is carrying passengers amounting to only 50 per cent of the total seating capacity.
The ferry services, which were suspended in Assam when the first phase of the lockdown began on March 25, resumed from Guwahati to North Guwahati, Guwahati to Madhyamkhanda, Rajaduwar to Guwahati and Guwahati to Kuruwa routes.
The ferry services, operated by the IWT department, had already started from May 4 in the Majuli and Jorhat route.
Assam Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on May 6 has directed the IWT department to resume its passenger ferry services in Guwahati.
