Lawlessness is the law of the rivers

We are shocked at the recent incident of launch capsize that happened in the Shitalakkhya River—in Char Syedpur area of Narayanganj Sadar upazila—in the afternoon of March 20, 2022. At least eight passengers have died in the incident, while 19 others remain missing at the time of writing this column. Reportedly, a small launch named MV Afsar Uddin, with around 50 passengers on board, was heading towards Munshiganj from Narayanganj when it was hit by MV Rupshi 9, a large cargo vessel. It was heartbreaking to watch the footage of the cargo ship ramming into the launch. The panicked passengers started jumping into the river, but the ship bore the launch down within seconds with many passengers still on it.

This incident is yet another example of how deadly our river routes have become over the years. On April 8 last year, a passenger vessel named SKL-3 sank in the same area after being hit by a cargo vessel, killing 34 people. The capsize of MV Mayur (on June 29, 2020) is still fresh in our memories, when 34 people died as the launch hit a small water vessel in the Buriganga. And only last December, we witnessed the deadliest incident of launch fire in our history, which took at least 43 lives. All these incidents have revealed the chaos in our river transport system—the inefficiency and negligence of the crew members of the water vessels, their total disregard towards the existing rules and regulations, and the indifference of the Department of Shipping and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) towards making them compliant.

According to the survivors of Sunday's tragedy, the cargo vessel came too close to their launch without so much as honking. Primary investigation has also found that the vessel was running at a relatively high speed. Meanwhile, even though the passengers of the launch warned the driver of the possibility of a clash, he didn't seem to care. It is clear that the drivers didn't feel the need to follow any rules and regulations while cruising their vessels through the river routes, which is perhaps emblematic of the lawlessness ruling the rivers.
It is good to know that a murder case has been filed against eight crew members of the cargo vessel, including two of its masters. We now hope that they will be brought to book for the deaths and reckless endangerment of so many passengers. We also think the driver of the launch should be held accountable for ignoring the passengers' warnings.

We cannot afford to see this incident as a one-off accident. The systematic problems plaguing the river routes, which stem from the authorities' indifference and inefficiencies, must be addressed without delay if we are to ensure that no more lives are lost in such preventable tragedies.