Poor condition of transport system
Every year authorities promise the people that roads and highways will be repaired well in advance of Eid but nothing much changes unfortunately. The terrible gridlocks that occur on major highways are due to the poor condition at certain key points that slow traffic down to a snail's pace and this happens prior to every major holiday like Eid on Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Tangail, Gazipur-Tangail and Dhaka-Sylhet highways. With some eight million people leaving the capital city to visit their home districts during Eid, we fail to understand why repair work cannot be commenced a few months prior to the predictable rush that occurs every year!
For many people, the only way home is over waterways and here too we see a lack of oversight by authorities. Launch owners merely apply a fresh paint on dilapidated marine vessels and then cram three and sometimes even four times their capacity full of passengers, which inevitably lead to accidents and loss of life. We find the situation on railway not too rosy either. According to a survey by a passenger welfare group, more than two-thirds of the engines and nearly half the coaches of the railways are past their shelf life which opens up the prospect of frequent breakdowns or accidents.
All in all, a dismal picture for those who must make the journey home to spend hours on the road, water and rail which is fraught with danger and we see thousands perish every year. This utter disregard for life of passengers has become a mainstay because authorities fail to monitor and mete out harsh legal measures to restrain errant transport workers.
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