Staff Reporter :
Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, a passengers’ welfare committee, said that at least 311 people were killed and 862 injured during Eid-ul Fitr journey this year, which is comparatively higher than the previous year.
Of the victims, the highest 274 people were killed and 848 injured in road crashes between June 19 and July 1, the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity said while unveiling a survey report at a press conference held at Bangladesh Crime Reporters’ Association auditorium in the city’s Segun Bagicha on Tuesday.
A total of 34 people were killed after crashing under the wheels of the trains and three people were killed and 14 injured in river transport accidents during the same period, it said. In 12 days during Eid-ul Fitr rush last year, about 200 people were killed and 764 injured in 127 road, rail and river transport accidents, the briefing was told.
Secretary General of the welfare association Mozammel Haque Chowdhury said, “The number of accidents has comparatively increased this year. It is mainly due to poor road condition, failure to control over speeding of buses and plying of slow vehicles alongside the speedy ones.”
The organisation prepared the report monitoring the reports of 22 national and six regional dailies and 10 online news portals.
The organization placed 12 recommendations, including formation of a road accident research unit. Besides, it also recommended for taking initiatives to control speed, digitalization of vehicle fitness system, inspection of road safety, trained drivers and separate lanes in the highways for slow and fast moving vehicles.
The report said the highest number of accidents occurred on Dhaka-Mymensingh-Rangpur highways where the highest number of passengers was killed.
On the other hand, the local administration promised to give Tk 20,000 to each victim’s family, but they allegedly that they did not get the money.
Meanwhile, about 2,297 people were killed and 5,480 injured in road accidents in the first six months of this year, the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways (NCPSRR) said recently.
Prof. Hasib Mohammad Ahsan, former director of the Accident Research Institute (ARI) of BUET, said that a large number of people and vehicles remain on the roads during the Eid holidays, and they compete against each other to reach their respective destinations as fast as possible.
He, however, said the number of roads and highways in the country hasn’t increased compared to the number of vehicles over the past few decades. As a result, we now observe huge traffic gridlocks on highways, especially during the Eid season, he said.
Experts said drivers find it frustrating to get stuck in long tailbacks as they are psychologically geared to drive in high-speed on highways. So, when the traffic is less in different intersections, most of them start speeding and overtaking to make up the loss of time. This leads to loss of control and accidents, they said.
A large number of unfit vehicles being plies on highways is another reason behind the rise in the number of road fatalities. Several owners put their unfit vehicles on roads to meet the growing number of passengers during the Eid season. But these are not for long-distance routes and thus drivers often lose control of such vehicles, they added.
