Plying of bulkheads must be brought under control

ONCE again a passenger trawler sank into the deep of the Meghna after being hit by a sand-bearing bulkhead at Sonargaon in Narayanganj.

The accident took place in the Char-Kishoreganj area of Char-Hogla union at around 7:30 pm on Friday. Look at the time.

If the sun sets now at around 5:40 pm, 7:30 is already dark night when, according to rules, bulkheads are not allowed to ply in river water.

Though it was reported six people including women and children on the trawler were missing, it is very unlikely these people would return alive. But we hope they will come back alive.

It was an empty bulkhead that was coming towards Balumahal in Munshiganj to take sand from Narayanganj at night and rammed the trawler.

The trawler sank immediately with 11 passengers on board. Five people managed to swim ashore with the help of local people but six went missing.

The important point is, not long ago, on August 6, a tragic accident took place in a tributary of the Padma River in Munshiganj as a sand-laden bulkhead hit a picnic trawler killing at least eight people.

Soon after this accident, a five-member investigation committee was formed to probe the incident.

That was all. Had the authorities took this incident very seriously they would not have allowed sand-carrying ships at night anymore and last Friday’s accident would not have happened.

Scores of people are dying on the river, yet the government’s relevant authorities are showing callous negligence in enforcing the relevant rules.

After the picnic accident the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways demanded operation of mobile courts across the country immediately to ensure that water vessels follow all the rules of operation. But the demand was not heard.

We in this column also pointed out that the sailors without valid documents must be punished, bringing the vessel owners to book under the law for employing sailors and masters without papers.

In Bangladesh, at least 85,000 vessels of various types ply across the country. Of these only 15,000 are registered vessels.

Of the illegal vessels, the number of bulkheads alone is at least 6,000.

If the government fails to enforce rules and bring discipline on the waterways, we will continue to see fatal accidents one after another.