Accidents on waterways: Numbers, casualties continue to rise
Accidents on rivers and subsequent fatalities have seen a gradual increase over the last three years and experts see the authorities' poor monitoring of the waterways operations as the main reason.
The lack of trained crew members, rise in river traffic, including unregistered vessels, shortage of manpower for safety checks, and a culture of impunity are also to blame, they said.
Waterway's safety is often ignored in the country, but it comes up for discussion every time an accident claims people's lives. The issue has come to the fore once again after a cargo vessel bore down a launch in the Shitalakkhya on Sunday, leaving at least eight people dead.
The accident took place three months after a fire at the MV Abhijan launch killed 49 people in December.
Data from the Department of Shipping, a regulatory body under the shipping ministry, shows that at least 146 people were killed and 179 injured in 39 riverine accidents last year.
Eighty-one people were killed and 10 injured in 32 accidents in 2020 while in 2019, three people lost their lives and 33 others were injured in 26 accidents.
Buet's Accident Research Institute (ARI) and the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways say the figures are much higher.
According to the ARI, 110 people were killed in 151 accidents in 2019 while 126 accidents claimed 264 lives in 2020. Last year, 199 people lost their lives in 65 accidents, said ARI, based on information collected from newspaper reports.
The national committee said 217 people were killed in 77 accidents last year while 124 were killed in the same number of accidents in 2020.
Both the ARI and the committee said the actual numbers may be higher since many incidents go unreported.
ARI Assistant Professor Md Imran Uddin said apart from 14,805 registered vessels, another 35,000 to 40,000 unregistered ones are assumed to be plying the rivers. "The unregistered vessels don't come under any safety surveys. These vessels make the waterways unsafe," he told The Daily Star yesterday.
Besides, he said, the authorities, following the capsize of Pinak-6 in 2014, had decided not to allow any new "sunken deck" vessels, because they are prone to accidents, but have continued to issue fitness clearance to the existing ones.
"It is an example of the government's double standards," he said, adding that the vessel which sank on Sunday was a "sunken deck" launch.
Ashis Kumar Dey, general secretary of the national committee, said a lack of proper monitoring by the authorities was behind the rise in accidents on rivers.
There are only six surveyors in the shipping department to survey around 15,000 registered vessels across the country. Although a new organogram with 22 surveyors was approved in 2018, no new appointments have been made in this regard, he said.
There are only 17 inspectors of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority against 48 posts, hampering proper inspections of vessels, he added.
Ashis said probe committees were formed after every major accident. "But their recommendations were never executed and the officials responsible for the accidents were never punished."
Departmental actions were taken against a few, but those were too lenient, he also said, adding, "Launch owners do not face any punishment in most cases while crew members get nominal punishment in some. A sort of culture of impunity is prevailing here."
Contacted, Commodore AZM Jalal Uddin, director general of the shipping department, said a "casual approach" towards ensuring safety is the main reason for accidents.
Rising traffic is another reason for the rising number of accidents, he said, adding that many of the crew members who steer the vessels do not have licences.
About the shortage of surveyors, he said, "I will beg to differ here. Increasing the surveyors is not the only solution."
"I agree that increasing surveyors will increase compliance and safety standards but if people don't follow the safety guidelines the situation will never improve."
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