Titas Gas must compensate Narayanganj mosque blast victims
We appreciate the High Court's directive to Titas Gas Ltd to give Tk 5 lakh as initial costs in seven days to each family of the Narayanganj mosque blast victims, who died and suffered burn injuries. The court also issued a rule asking the government authorities and Titas Gas to explain why the authorities of Titas Gas should not be directed to give Tk 50 lakh to each of the families. The court came up with the order and rule following a writ petition that sought its directive to the Titas Gas authorities to compensate the victims.
As of now, twenty-eight people have died and several others who sustained burns in the blast are passing their days in agonising pain. The families of the victims want justice for losing their loved ones in an incident that could have been easily avoided if Titas Gas authorities fixed the leaky pipes on time. Reportedly, Titas officials not only ignored the request of the mosque committee members to check the leaky gas lines, but also demanded bribes for doing the job. As their negligence has apparently caused this tragedy, they should be held to account.
We will know more about the reasons for this deadly blast once the probe committees complete their investigations and submit their reports. The court also said it will hear the rule after the committees submit their reports on the incident. We hope to get some positive directives from the court in dealing with such cases of negligence.
It goes without saying that as the HC has directed Titas to compensate each victim of the explosion, they must comply with the order, and soon. We hope Titas will be made to pay more in line with the HC rule going forward, as more findings come to the surface. While giving compensation to the victims is an important way to hold Titas officials accountable for their negligence, it is also important that those responsible for the incident face justice as their inaction has caused the tragedy.
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