Operators of waterway transports have urged the government to take immediate steps for dredging of rivers the navigability of which, they said, have declined drastically on major routes blocking movement of vessels. Due to insignificant dredging, navigability of river channels across the country has shrunk to only 3,800 kilometers in the current dry-season, against 28,000 kilometers in 1971, they said. At a joint-press conference in the city on Wednesday, leaders of the association of cargo vessel owners, launch owners and ship builders, said that the government should procure more dredgers and start massive dredging operations immediately.