Docked on to uncertainty

Sadek Ali, a boatman who plies his trade on the Buriganga, took loans from his relatives to send his only son to Brunei two months ago. This, he hoped, would bring his family better days, and finally allow him to retire from after a 20-year long career.

But all his dreams hit a roadblock with the coronavirus pandemic setting in on the world.

"I hoped things would be alright, but everything has stalled everywhere. My son is unable to send me any money. There's no food on the table," he said, sitting at the capital's Shashanghat area in Shyambazar. "I have no choice but to take up the oar again."

The loan, worth Tk 2.5 lakh, has become a headache for Sadek. In something of a double whammy, not only does he have to provide for his family again, but also pay back the lenders, who have started pressuring him, as they too are feeling the heat of the shutdown.

And it's not like getting his boat out to the water and putting in some hard labour is going to take care of all of this. As the shutdown continues, passengers are hard to come by, and daily income of boatmen around the area have come down by at least 70 percent, according to some accounts.

Boatman Md Kamal said, "We used to earn Tk 1,000 or above on a regular day. Now, it has come down to Tk 300 or less."

Kamal has to pay Tk 75 to rent the boat and Tk 85 to local influential persons, he claimed.

Though the number of passengers has reduced drastically, the charge remains the same, he said.

He is the sole bread-earner of his family in Barishal. He rows his boat to send his two sons to college. "My family is going to starve if I stop rowing," Kamal said in a grim tone.

Nearby, sexagenarian Siddique Mia could be seen loudly calling for passers-by to get on his boat. "In the last 20 years, I saw hartals and blockades. But this situation is far worse," he said.

Even during hartals, many people used to come out bearing the risk, he said. "How do I feed my family? Passengers are nowhere to be found and I don't have any other skill," he added.

Even though road connectivity has improved over the years and water of the Buriganga turned pitch black from indiscriminate pollution, the appeal of the boat service never diminished.

Before the shutdown, the ghats were crowded with passengers from all walks of life, especially during the morning and evening.

Visiting the Shyambazar Kheyaghat recently, this correspondent found nearly 20 boats anchored, with boatmen shouting, "Opar, opar [other side]" to attract passengers. With perspective, they almost sound like pleas for this difficult period to pass onto the other side.