THE launch accident on Tuesday, which, according to latest count, has claimed more than 100 people, provides yet another reminder of the hapless state of our communication services and systems, be it road, rail or water, which continue to claim the lives of commuters and ordinary people in huge numbers. According to a report published in New Age, the MV Shariatpur 1, headed for Dhaka from Naria with more than 200 passengers on board, capsized after colliding with a large cargo vessel in the river Meghna at Gazaria in Munshiganj at about 1:30am. Launch accidents in particular have been one of the biggest killers in this country in recent years. Different studies put the number of accidents in the past 30 years between 250 and 400, and the number of deaths between 2,500 and 3,500. More worryingly, the number of accidents and deaths has increased over the last decade. Despite a number of High Court rulings asking the government to ensure the safety and security of river-bound passengers, such as ensuring the presence of life buoys on board or stopping overloading, accidents appear to be taking place at will.
News reports and studies down the years have also shed serious light into the reasons that lead to launch accidents. Overloading of passengers, unprofessional drivers, faulty vehicles, lack of safety equipment of board, poor signal and navigation system etc, have all contributed to accidents and deaths over the years. The solutions to such problems are also almost well-known now. Equipping boats with radar and radio instruments, strong monitoring and vigilance in providing driver’s licenses, fitness certificates or checking overloading of passengers — are things concerned people have been clamouring about for years. And yet, the deaths and accidents on Bangladesh’s rivers continue to pile on. Men, women, children, whole families and extended families are sometimes completely lost, while sometimes a member or two are left behind to mourn the rest. It is now a routine for the shipping minister of any government to arrive on spot and announce a financial compensation for the victim’s families, as if the price of human lives could be pegged down to Tk 30,000 (the amount offered by the present shipping minister at Gazaria).
Subsequent governments have essentially gotten away without addressing the ills that cause accidents on waterways because, often, the commuters on waterways, though the largest in terms of numbers, often belong to low-income groups and hence cannot yield their collective power over the government. However, this is simply an unacceptable situation, and the government should be aware that sooner or later they will have to account for the loss of so many lives in such a heart-rending way. Therefore, the government should immediately take steps to bring the entire water transport system under an organised framework where the safety and security of passengers is given the utmost priority.
Source; New Age
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