Emad Paribahan bus: Route permit was suspended, involved in accident earlier

Route permit of the Emad Paribahan bus that met with an accident in Madaripur’s Shibchar killing 19 people was suspended and the fitness clearance of the bus expired too.

Moreover, the same bus killed four people including a sub inspector of police in a previous accident.

Following the accident, the authorities suspended the route permit of the bus.

Sources at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) said this on Sunday.

The bus plunged into a ditch at around 7:30 in the morning after the driver lost control on Padma bridge expressway at Shibchar of Madaripur. 19 people have been killed so far in the tragic accident. 25 more injured people are admitted to different hospitals.

BRTA sources said the same bus of Emad Paribahan was involved in an accident on 21 September 2019. The bus hit a stationary truck from behind at Sonashur area of Gopalganj Sadar upazila killing 4 and injuring 15 more.

According to BRTA, the bus of Ashok Leyland company was built in 2017 and registered in January 2018. The bus has 40 seats as per the document of registration. The fitness certificate was taken every year since the registration but the registration was not renewed after expiry on 18 January. The bus had route permit for Dhaka’s Sayedabad to Khulna.

BRTA said the bus was bought in the name of Social Islami Bank’s Panthapath branch and Emad Private Limited Company. Habibur Rahman Sheikh is the owner of the company. He is from Harun Tower at Alia Madrasa road in Gopalganj Sadar.

BRTA chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder told Prothom Alo that the bus’ route permit was suspended after it was involved with an accident in the past. It was grossly illegal to still run the bus, he said, adding that the process to bring the owner of the bus to book and suspend its registration is on.

A BRTA official told Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity that BRTA does not have the manpower or resources needed to oversee if a bus runs on the road even after suspension of its route permit. But police can take action in such a case anytime if they want.

Police and witnesses said the accident might have taken place as the driver dozed off or the tyre burst. However, such a massive accident would not have taken place due to a tyre burst if the bus was not speeding.

Any fault in the tyre should have been identified during the fitness test. As per the law, at least 60 types of examinations would be carried out before giving a fitness certificate. But BRTA only spends 5-10 minutes inspecting the fitness of a bus. Many BRTA officials allegedly give fitness certificates without even seeing the vehicle. Moreover, the number of vehicle inspectors is inadequate.

As per the Road Transport Act, the drivers of the vehicles need to be given enough time to rest so that they don't fall asleep during driving. But most of the companies don't comply with this provision.

As per the rule, a driver can’t drive more than five hours at a stretch and eight hours a day. According to a 2017 report published by Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), 86 per cent of the transport workers in Bangladesh work more than 13 hours a day and 90 per cent do not get any weekly holiday.

Stakeholders said transport workers suffer from physical and mental health issues due to inadequate rests and unspecified job hours. Fatigue of the drivers increases the number of accidents.

BRTA said the number of registered vehicles in the country exceeds 5.6 million while the number of driving licence holders is less than 5 million. The number of licensed drivers is even less since a person can have multiple types of driving license. BRTA sources said there are around 4 million licensed drivers in the country.

The BRTA, however, estimates that the number of vehicles would exceed 15 million in 2030 if the current rate of vehicle registration continues.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina in a cabinet meeting in June 2018 directed the authorities to build rest houses for the drivers and ensure fixed working hours for them. These directives are yet to be carried out.

Under these circumstances, the number of casualties in road accidents keeps rising.

According to the government, a total of 2460 lives were lost in road accidents in the country in 2015-16. The number of deaths in road accidents have kept rising since then. As per Road Safety Foudation’s report, a total of 7,713 lives were lost in road accidents last year.