Accidents plagued roads, rail, and waterways
Shohel Mamun, Dhaka: The government once again faced a string of student protests this year after failing to ensure road safety as per a strategic national action plan.
Early in the year, the road safety authorities set the action plan with the aim of reducing road accidents by 2o%-25% by 2024 and 50% by 2030. However, an increasing number of accidents as well as chaos and indiscipline on roads suggest that the plan has been fruitless.
“Fixing an action plan is not enough to ensure road safety. Strict implementation of rules and political commitment is a must to reduce accidents,” said Prof Md Hadiuzzaman, director at the Accident Research Institute (ARI) of Buet.
The National Road Safety Council (NRSC) has been implementing a road safety action plan since 1997. The council executed an action plan for 2011-2020 to reduce road accidents by 50% as per a target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations.
However, experts said the numbers of fatal road accidents and casualties almost doubled from 2011 to 2020, instead of being halved.
Relaxed execution of the Road Transport Act, unlicenced, unskilled drivers, faulty vehicles, weakness in road and bridge infrastructure, lack of education and awareness, and unavailability of medical facilities are the main causes of the failure to achieve the targets under strategic action plans, they added.
“The plans will never work until they are executed in a holistic manner,” Prof Md Hadiuzzaman said.
“Although the government passed a new Road Transport Act in 2019 for ensuring road safety, authorities concerned have been relaxed in its execution and so indiscipline on roads has continued,” said Mozammel Haque, secretary general of the Passengers’ Welfare Association.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader was also disappointed with the indiscipline and chaos on roads.
“People didn’t get the benefit of the mega infrastructure projects due to the chaos in road traffic, ” said Quader after inaugurating the pilot of the bus franchise system on December 26.
On the basis of the pilot, many experts opined that the modified bus route franchise plan would not be successful in bringing discipline to traffic.
Criticizing the traffic system, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam said: “Due to the lack of a well-planned transport system, unhealthy competition persists among different bus companies, causing anarchy and accidents. Therefore, it is necessary to gradually restore order in the transport system of the city.”
Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030
The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 on October 28, 2021, with an ambitious target of preventing at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries worldwide by 2030 to achieve SDGs.
According to a global status report on road safety in 2018, low-income countries host 1% of the world’s vehicles but account for 13% of road traffic deaths. On the other hand, high-income countries host 40% of the world’s vehicles but are responsible for only 1% of road traffic deaths.
As a result of this disparity in road traffic deaths, WHO has emphasized minimizing road accidents in lower-income counties.
A fatal year
According to ARI, casualties due to fatal accidents in road traffic, water and railways have been rising alarmingly.
According to ARI, a total of 3,589 people were killed in road accidents in the first 10 months of the passing year. The number of casualties was lower in 2020.
The Bangladesh Passengers’ Welfare Association (BPWA) recorded more than 6,320 accidents until December 2021.
A single deadly crash on the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway left at least 17 people dead, 11 of whom were burnt to death after one of the vehicles caught fire on March 27.
The country’s water and railways are also prone to accidents. A massive fire on a launch on the Sugandha River near Jhalakathi recently claimed at least 43 people. Another collision between two water vessels on the Shitalakhya River in Munshiganj early in the year killed 34 passengers.
According to ARI, 158 and 91 people were killed in waterway and railway accidents, respectively, until November 2021.
Protest to ensure road safety
Students waged a movement for road safety after the death of Nayeem Hasan, a second-year student of Notre Dame College. A proxy driver was behind the steering wheel of a Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) garbage truck which ran him over in Gulistan in the last quarter of the year.
The students placed an 11-point demand to bring about discipline in the road traffic system while blocking many roads in Dhaka. The protests were withdrawn after the government assured them that their demands would be met.
Movement for half-pass
The students also conducted a movement for half fare on buses after the government raised the fares of diesel-run buses by 27% in the wake of a fuel price hike.
The government allowed half fares for students on all passenger buses in Dhaka from December 1, with half bus fares for students in other cities announced soon afterwards.
