People continued to meet the tragic end of their lives on waterways, and there seems to be no end in sight.
A woman went missing and a man was injured, after a passenger launch collided with a cargo ship in the Meghna River in Chandpur, due to reduced visibility caused by dense fog on Thursday night. The collision left the Barisal-bound MV Sundarbans-16 launch stranded in the middle of the river, according to media reports.
Apart from the Meghna River, journey on country’s most waterways for any purpose has now become risky due to desperate plying, an uncontrolled increase in the number of vessels and lack of overseeing. This tragic accident questions about the safety of the country’s water transportation sector once again.
We fear there could be more accidents on different river routes of the country if the government does not give utmost importance to ensuring security and convenience of the passengers and bring discipline in plying of water transports in the county’s river routes. On the other hand, as many people along with their families travel by the inland waterways, the shipping ministry have to form necessary vigilance teams to monitor the overall situation of waterway sector to ensure passenger safety in journey.
Journey on country’s most
waterways for any
purpose has now become
risky due to desperate plying
Dense fog and cold disrupt life with waterways communication remaining suspended in the early hours of daytime and cause accidents during the winter season. The ministry must conduct operations to deter and stop illegal water passenger vessel operators across the country. Such deadly accident can be averted if the regulatory and monitoring agencies of the water transport sector plays due role.
The government will have to take strict measures against owners of unlicensed and run-down water vessel. We also express dissatisfaction with the authorities concerned for their negligence in keeping the waterway a safe journey for people.
Their negligence is resulting in such repeated tragic deaths in either river or other water ways. Competitive attitudes among the workers of water transports to reach destinations early, inefficiency, desperateness, lack of training and awareness among workers, and not following rules while overtaking vessels are causing fatal disasters on waterways.
We think ensuring safe journey is the responsibility of the government. The authorities concerned will have to take firm steps to fulfil its responsibility in order to ensure safety of the people, who travel by water vessels throughout the country.
We also demand legal action against those responsible for the trawler capsize and urge the government to form an ‘effective probe’ committee to unearth what really caused the accident. Unskilled sailing trawler man or boatman and lack of fitness are the main reasons for naval accidents.