Footpath deaths from falling objects: Authorities must take the blame

It is very unfortunate that the footpaths of Dhaka city are gradually becoming unsafe for movement due to carelessness of the relevant authorities.

Pedestrians are killed or injured by the falling bricks, rods, glass, concrete blocks from under-construction buildings while walking on the footpaths.

There seems to be no one to look after the loss of life from the objects falling from the under-construction buildings.

Those who are supposed to look after do not seem to be moved by these deaths. In some tragic cases, even though a case was filed, the relatives of the deceased did not get justice.

But in the law and building construction regulations, there is an obligation to ensure overall safety in the construction of buildings including pedestrians.

However, the reality is such that it is very unlikely that this time also the relatives of victim of Bangladesh Bank Assistant Director Dipanwita Biswas who was killed on the spot when a concrete block fell on her head while walking on the footpath on New Circular Road in Moghbazar recently, would see justice.

This is a very pessimistic assumption, but one cannot be positive about justice since facts on the ground do not generate hope of justice even though the CCTV footage of the event shows that something like a concrete block fell from the Moghbazar flyover and fell on the head of the pedestrian Dipanwita.

Police say that if a concrete block falls from the flyover and the person is killed, the city corporation will have to take the blame. But the city corporation says that Rajuk is to blame for it.

In this trade of blame game, unnatural death of the bank officer arising from negligence would not see justice.

But this is how deaths of people by falling objects from above cannot continue. Lives of people must be made secure.

The responsible organisation must take responsibility for failure in stopping deaths caused by the brick fallen from buildings.

They have to be serious about it, and due punishment must be meted out to the people whose negligence causes such deaths.