Death rules Dhaka roads
Over the last one year, 297 persons were killed in road accidents in the capital city Dhaka. And around 38 per cent of these victims were pedestrians. There is no decrease in the number of deaths due to road accidents in the city.
These figures were revealed by the Accident Research Institute (ARI) of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). The ARI statistics were from 1 July 2018 to 1 July 2019. Of these deaths, 46 took place on the Airport Road alone. According to the institute’s report, 276 died of road accidents in 2017 in the city.
When two students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College, Diya Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib, were killed in a road accident while waiting for a bus on Airport Road a year ago, angry school, college and university students broke out in protest. They took up a movement, demanding safe roads.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police and other agencies of the government at the time spoke of various initiatives to address the situation. A year has passed since the movement, but those initiatives are yet to be fulfilled. Dhaka’s roads still see no discipline.
During the safe road movement, hoodlums in helmets swooped down on the protesting students and assaulted them. Journalists were injured in these attacks too. The police turned a blind eye to these attacks carried out by activists of the government-backed student organisation. Instead, they filed 60 cases against a few hundred demonstrators and sent 99 to jail, 52 of whom were students. These students are out on bail now, but still have to appear in court.
The police have submitted charge sheets in two of the 60 cases. Final reports for two of the cases were submitted, recommending release from charges. The other cases remain under investigation.
Jahanara Huq, the mother of an accused student Zahidul Huq, told Prothom Alo on Sunday, the police picked up her son on false charges. He was even sent to jail. He has to appear in court every month now. He is under mental stress and his studies have been affected. She has no idea when he will be released from charges.
Former law minister Shafiq Ahmed has said that it is very unfortunate that the investigations in these cases have still not been completed. He told Prothom Alo that if there was no evidence or proof, the charges against the students should be dropped as soon as possible.
Deaths do not decrease
Upon orders of the Supreme Court, an inquiry committee had been formed to look into the deaths of the two students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College. The committee, headed by the director of BUET’s ARI, Mizanur Rahman, submitted its report to the court. The report maintained that the disorder in the public transport sector was responsible for the road accidents in Dhaka. Public transport had decreased, but the number of private cars was on a steady increase. Most of the bus routes were haphazard. The bus drivers were not given proper appointments, but hired on a daily basis. The bus owners collected their money from the drivers at the end of the day. The drivers were also under a lot of pressure, having to pay for the fuel and other miscellaneous costs.
Associate professor of BUET’s Accident Research Institute, Md. Saifun Newaz, speaking to Prothom Alo, said that the safe road movement is over, but Dhaka’s road accidents continue. The public transport sector is still in chaos. There is no visible progress in reducing the incidence of road accidents.
Deaths on Airport Road
Records indicate that the highest number of road accident deaths in Dhaka city take place on the Airport Road. Over the past four years, 204 persons have died on this treacherous road.
On 11 February this year, an 18-year-old boy was killed by a bus in front of the Joarshahara bus stand. Police officer Mofakkharul filed a case with the Khilkhet police station in this regard.
Police inspector (investigations) of Khilkhet police station, Abul Bashar Muhammad Asaduzzaman, told Prothom Alo that bus and motorcycle drivers drove at reckless speeds. Pedestrians mostly failed to use the over-bridges to cross the streets. That was why the road accident deaths were not decreasing.
It has been observed from various records that there are 23 particular sports near the Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport that are prone to accidents.
Additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Mofiz Uddin, informed Prothom Alo that there were many reasons that the deaths on Dhaka roads were not decreasing. However, he said, the police were taking all sorts of measures to reduce the number of deaths.
Chairman of Nirapod Sarak Chai, actor Ilyas Kanchan, feels that the road accidents continue as the road transport act is not followed. Vehicles without fitness were plying the streets of Dhaka, he observed while talking to Prothom Alo. The drivers were driving recklessly, killing people. Order would have to be ensured in the public transport sector to reduce deaths on the roads. He called for stern application of the existing laws.
* This report appeared in the print edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir