Safety of commuters should be priority

The number of people killed in road accidents every day tells us how shambolic the situation in the public transport sector is.

According to Jatri Kalyan Samity, a platform of the commuters, as many as 800 people died in road accidents during the Eid holidays. The number was 339 during the Eid-ul-Fitr of 2019.

Experts have identified lack of skill of the drivers and their wanton attitude on the streets as key reasons for the road accidents besides also mentioning dilapidated condition of the roads and bridges and age-old vehicles.

On Saturday last, six people were killed as a tire of a bus burst on the road. It is basic to check the tire before making a trip, but many of the drivers apparently do not do that. The situation worsens during the Eid as transport owners make them do more trips for more profits. At the same time, vehicles that do not have fitness certificates also start plying on the roads.

It looks like the authorities are indifferent to the safety of the thousands of people that travel during the Eid holidays. They add a few bogies to the trains, paint some dilapidated roads new and issue some instructions, and that’s all.

They forget the number of people losing their family members in the road accidents.

They have already started selling bus and launch tickets ahead of the Eid. On the very first day, many had to go home without as they were told tickets for AC buses had been sold out.

It is very lamentable that almost all the transport companies charge extra fare during Eid, whereas in the other countries people get discounts during major holidays.

The road transport and bridges ministry has said trucks and lorries will not be plying on the roads three days before the Eid. The dilapidated roads will be repaired seven days before the Eid, too. Mobile courts of the BRTA will also conduct drives to catch vehicles without fitness certificates.

But the reality is that it is something that they do every year, making these announcements. The number of people travelling increases manifold during the Eid holidays. We need the authorities to act strict, going hard on vehicles without fitness certificates and putting an end to the sick tendency of the transport owners, who are blinded by greed.

This is a time Nor'westers (Kalbaishakhi) can occur, so the launches, ferries and steamers need to be extra cautious. The safety of the people should be the utmost priority.