Highway turns into death trap

A staggering 1,344 people have been killed and 2,995 others injured in 1,110 road accidents on the stretch of narrow highway between Mirzapur and the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge since the inauguration of the bridge in 1997.
Number of casualties on the highway has been rising steadily due to manifold problems -- traffic too heavy for the two-lane highway, reckless driving and other forms of traffic rules violations, hazardous bridges, absence of patrolling by law enforcers and lack of trauma and medical emergency facilities, said experts.
Tangail police superintendent's office sources that provided the casualty data said among the injured, over 1,000 have been physically disabled for life.
In Kalihati upazila, the highway recently witnessed two back-to-back fatal accidents only three days apart. On Saturday, 18 people were killed and 55 injured as a drowsy driver of an overcrowded and speeding bus lost control of the vehicle and slammed into rail tracks nearby.
Three days back during the early hours, only five kilometres away, another 17 people lost their lives and 25 sustained injuries when the driver of a bus failed to take caution at a level crossing and collided with an intercity train.
The highway is overcrowded with a myriad of light, heavy cargo vehicles to passenger buses plying on 16 routs of northern region and five routs of southwestern region, said sources at traffic department.
In 1997, the inauguration of the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge and the two-lane highway initially connected the capital with the northern districts of the country. Further development of road communications between the southwestern region and Dhaka via the Jamuna Bridge paved the way for more vehicles from the region to start plying this highway -- resulting in heavy traffic on it, the sources added.
The leading cause of head-on collisions on the highway is due to the fact that the number of lanes on the highway has remained the same despite the tremendous increase in traffic over the years, they said.
Other causes of the rising trend in accidents on the highway are numerous traffic rules violations including reckless driving, speeding, overloading of both passenger and cargo vehicles, carrying passengers on top of vehicles and running unfit vehicles, said sources at local road transport authority office.
The drivers appear to have taken over the highway with their lawlessness as their crimes always go unpunished, alleged locals adding that no one has ever seen any member of Highway Patrol Police on this highway.
Adding to the hazards caused by the unruly drivers, several dilapidated bridges on different locations of the highway make the road even more perilous for all its users.
Passengers who frequent this road demanded that the authorities ensure passenger safety by taking stern action against the unruly drivers while the drivers stressed on the need for increased lanes for safer operation of vehicles on the highway.
Akhter Ali Sarkar, deputy commissioner (DC) of Tangail, said the authorities are also concerned about the rising accidents on the highway and two more lanes are needed to curb accidents on it.
"It is also very important to increase the number of Highway Patrol Police personnel and setting up a trauma centre on the highway," he further said.
Abdur Rouf Khan Sandesh, president of Tangail District Bus-Coach Owners' Association, admitted that the drivers' reckless driving is the main cause of frequent casualties on this highway.