Md Joynal Abedin Khan :
The Accident Research Institute (ARI) at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) has designed a project for the government that is expected to help reduce road accidents by 50 per cent in the country.
Besides, the developed project will help bring down causalities and also reduce Tk 20,000 crore in economic losses every year in the country.
A special lab called the Operation Control Center (OCC) will be set up under the project titled “Speed Enforcement, Incident Detection and Emergency System for Safer Bangladesh National Highways” which will provide necessary equipment support for the institute to conduct modern research to reduce accidents.
The project aims to stop speeding and carry out prompt rescue operations at the scene of a crash, according to project documents. It is currently awaiting the nod from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).
The project has an estimated cost of Tk 1,500 crore. The Roads and Highways Department, Highway Police, Fire Service and Civil Defense and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) will jointly implement the project.
Around 3,000 accidents happen every year in the country, killing around 2,700 people and injuring around 2,400. The total economic loss of such accidents is estimated to be Tk 40,000 crore per year, which is two to three per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But the real number of road accidents is more three times of the government data and the causalities are more than 23,000 per year.
As per the project plan, a speed monitoring camera will be installed every two kilometers on the 2,000km national highways, connected with optical fibre to the OCC.
The highways will be divided into 40 km segments. Each segment will have a station where a fully equipped Highway Police team and a Fire Service and Civil Defence team will be based.
Speeding vehicles will be tracked and their locations sent to a central server or control room
installed at the ARI and to a law enforcement team to track them down and take action.
The Central Control Room (CCR) will remain active at all times and deliver real-time information to the respective authorities to perform their jobs.
“The OCC will be established in the ARI at BUET. If there is any incident like speeding, dangerous overtaking, law violation or sign or signal violation, the related information will be sent to the lab which will constantly monitor the information,” said Kazi Md Saifun Newaz, An Assistant Professor of the ARI at BUET.
Whenever a vehicle crosses the speeding limit or commits any traffic violation, an SMS will be sent from the control room to the respective police team, the authorities and the owner so that necessary legal action is taken, he said.
According to the project documents, the ARI will be responsible for providing engineering and technical assistance, doing research and give directions about future development and up-gradation of the project.
“The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) will provide vehicle registration and driving licence data to the OCC Lab when the project comes into effect. Every divisional office and headquarters has a video console to monitor the highways. If anyone breaks the rules we can take initiatives immediately,” BRTA Director Moshiar Rahman said.
As a signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, Bangladesh has a commitment to cut causalities from road accidents by half by the year 2020.
“The government is striving to curb road accidents and has already taken several steps towards prevention. The ARI research would help prevent road accidents and can help fulfill the SDG target,” Roads and Highways Department (RHD) Executive Engineer Mohammad Shaheen Sarker said.
The speed limit for highways is 80km per hour. Around 200 to 250 vehicles are fined for speeding on highways, said Highway Police Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Atiqul Islam.
“Highway Police is working to conduct ground enforcement with regular vigilance. We are using digital equipment for this. For fast transport facility, our officials ride motorcycles and patrol vehicles to reach the spots. We take legal action for all incidents and crashes.”
The Fire Service is currently engaged in rescue efforts to provide 24-hour service at 89 highway points in the country, said Debashis Mondal, Deputy Director of FSCD.
On the other hand, Rains and floods have damaged more than 2,000 km of roads in the country, which prompted the Road Transport and Highways Division to seek a Tk 200 crore fund, said a field officer of RTHD.
In a letter to the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry earlier this month, the division said almost Tk 194 crore is needed immediately to fix the broken infrastructure.
“A total of 2,030.18km roads have been damaged, say officials of the division, adding it’s an initial finding and they will get the full picture after a second screening in November. A final study will be conducted when the flooding is over,” said the division’s Chief Engineer Ibne Alam Hasan.
The Accident Research Institute (ARI) at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) has designed a project for the government that is expected to help reduce road accidents by 50 per cent in the country.
Besides, the developed project will help bring down causalities and also reduce Tk 20,000 crore in economic losses every year in the country.
A special lab called the Operation Control Center (OCC) will be set up under the project titled “Speed Enforcement, Incident Detection and Emergency System for Safer Bangladesh National Highways” which will provide necessary equipment support for the institute to conduct modern research to reduce accidents.
The project aims to stop speeding and carry out prompt rescue operations at the scene of a crash, according to project documents. It is currently awaiting the nod from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).
The project has an estimated cost of Tk 1,500 crore. The Roads and Highways Department, Highway Police, Fire Service and Civil Defense and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) will jointly implement the project.
Around 3,000 accidents happen every year in the country, killing around 2,700 people and injuring around 2,400. The total economic loss of such accidents is estimated to be Tk 40,000 crore per year, which is two to three per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But the real number of road accidents is more three times of the government data and the causalities are more than 23,000 per year.
As per the project plan, a speed monitoring camera will be installed every two kilometers on the 2,000km national highways, connected with optical fibre to the OCC.
The highways will be divided into 40 km segments. Each segment will have a station where a fully equipped Highway Police team and a Fire Service and Civil Defence team will be based.
Speeding vehicles will be tracked and their locations sent to a central server or control room
installed at the ARI and to a law enforcement team to track them down and take action.
The Central Control Room (CCR) will remain active at all times and deliver real-time information to the respective authorities to perform their jobs.
“The OCC will be established in the ARI at BUET. If there is any incident like speeding, dangerous overtaking, law violation or sign or signal violation, the related information will be sent to the lab which will constantly monitor the information,” said Kazi Md Saifun Newaz, An Assistant Professor of the ARI at BUET.
Whenever a vehicle crosses the speeding limit or commits any traffic violation, an SMS will be sent from the control room to the respective police team, the authorities and the owner so that necessary legal action is taken, he said.
According to the project documents, the ARI will be responsible for providing engineering and technical assistance, doing research and give directions about future development and up-gradation of the project.
“The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) will provide vehicle registration and driving licence data to the OCC Lab when the project comes into effect. Every divisional office and headquarters has a video console to monitor the highways. If anyone breaks the rules we can take initiatives immediately,” BRTA Director Moshiar Rahman said.
As a signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, Bangladesh has a commitment to cut causalities from road accidents by half by the year 2020.
“The government is striving to curb road accidents and has already taken several steps towards prevention. The ARI research would help prevent road accidents and can help fulfill the SDG target,” Roads and Highways Department (RHD) Executive Engineer Mohammad Shaheen Sarker said.
The speed limit for highways is 80km per hour. Around 200 to 250 vehicles are fined for speeding on highways, said Highway Police Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Atiqul Islam.
“Highway Police is working to conduct ground enforcement with regular vigilance. We are using digital equipment for this. For fast transport facility, our officials ride motorcycles and patrol vehicles to reach the spots. We take legal action for all incidents and crashes.”
The Fire Service is currently engaged in rescue efforts to provide 24-hour service at 89 highway points in the country, said Debashis Mondal, Deputy Director of FSCD.
On the other hand, Rains and floods have damaged more than 2,000 km of roads in the country, which prompted the Road Transport and Highways Division to seek a Tk 200 crore fund, said a field officer of RTHD.
In a letter to the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry earlier this month, the division said almost Tk 194 crore is needed immediately to fix the broken infrastructure.
“A total of 2,030.18km roads have been damaged, say officials of the division, adding it’s an initial finding and they will get the full picture after a second screening in November. A final study will be conducted when the flooding is over,” said the division’s Chief Engineer Ibne Alam Hasan.
