Barisal river accidents keep on recurring

Launches and other watercrafts are the main mode of transport in Barisal region crisscrossed by rivers. But in the absence of an adequate number of safe water vessels, people have to resort to unfit passenger-carrying launches.

Cashing in on the rush of passengers, a section of water transport owners are using their old and unfit vessels in southern river routes from Barisal. Many of these vessels do not have registration while others are operating without fitness. 

Due to the rickety condition, these water vessels fall into accidents, taking toll on human lives every now and then.

There is no official data on how many people died in marine accidents in the region. This correspondent talked to BIWTA officials, passengers, eyewitnesses and locals. A rough estimate says no less than 43 people died and over hundred injured in 24 such accidents in the region in the last two years.  According to their accounts, 38 persons died and 85 persons injured in nineteen marine accidents last year, while 5 persons died and twenty injured in five accidents this year.

On September 21, 2016, a launch named Oishi sank into the Sandhya river near Banaripara Launch Ghat under Banaripara upazila in the district with fifty passengers on board. At least 26 died in that accident.

Oishi did not have any permission to carry passengers as it was basically a trawler later transformed into a launch,  Additional Deputy Commissioner Zakir Hossain told The Daily Star.    

The unsound condition of the vessel is responsible for the accident, added Zakir, also chairman of the probe committee formed by Barisal District Administration after the accident.

Ismail Hossain Negaban, a passenger who depends on water transport, said faulty water vessels are plying different river routes in the district, but the authorities concerned turn a blind eye to the illegal practice.

In this regard, Azmal Huda, deputy director of River Transport and Passenger Safety of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) at Barisal port, said, "We directed police administration to take action against those water vehicles that are carrying passengers without permission, but to no avail."

Contacted, Abdur Rouf Khan, deputy commissioner of Barisal Metropolitan Police (south), said if they receive specific allegations, they will take action. 

Due to the shortage of manpower, it is not possible for them to regularly conduct drives against unregistered water vessels, he added. 

On July 4, 2016, a passenger launch, Surovi, plying the Dhaka-Barisal route hit PS Masud -- a government passenger-carrying steamer, in Charbaria area, killing six people and injuring 20 others.

However, these marine accidents are unstoppable, so are deaths of passengers.

On Feb 18 this year, the engine room of a water vessel, MT Anchorge, carrying nine lakh litres of diesel and petrol, caught fire on the Kirtonkhola river, killing one person and injuring five staff of the oil tanker. The fire was brought under control. If went beyond control, it could have been one of the biggest disasters, said the locals.    

In the recent past, on April 22, 2017, four hundred passengers narrowly escaped as a launch named Greenline-2 and a coal-laden cargo collided. On impact, the cargo sank, and crack developed on the launch. This time, the passengers were rescued safely, which could have turned fatal. 

Akkas Hossain, president of Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) in Barisal, said safe river route has turned unsafe due to inefficiency in operating the water vehicles. 

Dr Gazi Md Saifuzzaman, deputy commissioner of Barisal, said we sent two probe reports (Oishi and PS Masud accidents) to the shipping ministry.

The reports included inefficiency of marine drivers, faulty water vessel and risky channel of water transport, as the main causes of marine accidents, he said, adding that a coordinated approach was needed to reduce the number of marine accidents.