No lessons learned

Following several road accidents in Natore, the authorities concerned formed probe committees which came up with recommendations to curb such incidents.

As part of the recommendations, reckless driving, including dangerous overtaking, and plying of unfit and unauthorised vehicles were checked on highways. However, things soon became all the same again.

The result: people keep dying on roads in the district.

In the latest incident, at least 15 people were killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a human haulier on Natore-Pabna highway in Baraigram upazila yesterday.

In the same upazila in October 2014, 33 people were killed as two buses collided head-on on Bonpara-Hatikumrul highway. The accident occurred when a Rajshahi-bound bus from Dhaka overtook a truck and crashed into another bus coming from the opposite direction.

The then district administration formed a probe committee, headed by the then additional district magistrate Mohammad Ali to probe the incident.

The team, in its report, described how the accident happened. It also gave some recommendations so that such incidents did not repeat, said Deputy Commissioner Shaheena Khatun. 

The recommendations included checking reckless driving, dangerous overtaking, restricting unfit and unauthorised vehicles on highways, widening the highways and removing unauthorised shops besides the roads.

The authorities did not implement all the recommendations.

“We could not execute the recommendations fully,” the DC said.

She claimed that some of the recommendations were followed. For example, the highways were widened before June. However, many roadside shops could not be removed. Besides, reckless driving could not be checked, she said, adding that their attempts to check the practice through police also failed.

Even yesterday's accident involved a human haulier which is banned from plying on the highway.

Talking to this newspaper, locals said the Highway Police had launched a special drive at the end of October in 2014 as part of the recommendations. The drive continued only for some days.

The road situation had improved during the drive but everything became as usual when it ended, they added.

However, talking to these correspondents at the accident spot yesterday,  Mostafizur Rahman, superintendent of  the Highway Police said,” We haven't stopped working”.

“Our drives are underway, but we couldn't check the movement of unauthorised vehicles on the [Natore-Pabna] highway,” he said. 

Two people were crushed to death by a speeding truck on October 11, 2015 on the highway.  On September 7 2016, three people were killed when two trucks collided on Bonpara-Hatikumrul highway. On December 11, 2016, an army corporal was killed on the Natore-Pabna highway.

Probe committees, formed over such accidents, made similar recommendations but they still remain unfulfilled. 

According to the Natore DC, a three-member probe committee, headed by Additional District Magistrate Md Saiduzzaman, was formed to investigate yesterday's accident. The body has been asked to submit its report within three days.

The other members of the committee are Additional SP Harunur Rashid and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority's Assistant Director Saidur Rahman.

The Highway Police formed another three-member committee, headed by Additional SP Shahidul Islam. The committee was asked to report within seven days.