If death toll from road mishaps is any measure of the country's calamitous road transport sector, the situation certainly calls for a strategy shift. The gravity of the situation on its roads can be gauged from the simple fact that a day in Bangladesh can hardly be imagined without one or two road accidents taking place or one or two lives lost due to road mishaps.
Statistically, Bangladesh ranks second in the world in terms of death toll from road accidents. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 40 persons die of road accidents in Bangladesh every day on an average. The media, however, report a higher figure while there are many incidents that are not covered by them. When someone important is killed, an enquiry committee is formed as a matter of routine, but a report thereof hardly sees daylight. Again, in committee reports if and when published, mechanical faults of the vehicles are pinpointed as the reasons behind the accidents rather than the faults of the drivers. Thus a major cause of accidents is bypassed to the negation of an effective role an enquiry committee could have played in preventing road accidents. There are some who deliberately refrain from identifying the real causes of accidents and in most cases, technical issues are highlighted.
The mechanical wing of the road transport division also generally attributes accidents to mechanical faults of the vehicles, drivers having fake licences or violating traffic rules are hardly blamed.
While these are undoubtedly the common causes of accidents, the phenomenon of too many vehicles in too small a space has emerged as another principal cause. As of now, road transports that constitute 80 per cent of total public transports, appear to be quite massive compared to the number and length of the roads. Besides, a large fleet of privately owned vehicles ply alongside public transports exerting immense pressure on the total transport system. In addition, 85.0 per cent of the country's total cargo is transported on road.
Loss of navigability of rivers, embankments and unplanned sluice gates, encroachment on river banks etc. have all led to contraction of water transport network in the country. Of the two modes of land transports, railway communication is safe and cost effective. While road communication enjoyed stupendous growth during the last few decades, unfortunately there has hardly been any expansion in railway networks.
The railway sector in this country is known to be a losing concern. Bangladesh being a country of rains and floods, all its roads need repair/maintenance two to three times a year. But if new railway tracks are laid in modern methods and existing tracks are modernised, they last longer without repair and maintenance. Railway communication is congestion-free and according to experts, the quantity of fuel wasted every year due to traffic congestion on road is enough to construct a 20-mile long railway track.
There is every reason to believe that in order to safeguard the country from the epidemic of road mishaps, there is no other alternative to expanding its railway network. A countrywide digitalised railway network has to be developed which will help provide comfort for passengers and protect the country from the effects of climate change.
Environmental scientists fear, environmental scientists fear, if the number of vehicles plying on the roads cannot be contained, there may be lack of oxygen in the air. But the railway can be a better and more useful mode of public transport on consideration of environment and economic development. A separate ministry for railways has been set up, which is a good step forward, but it will take some time before its impact on the country's communication system is felt. The immediate requirement is to make the railway sector free of corruption and malpractices and equip it with necessary fleet of trains and supporting materials on a priority basis to accommodate a much higher number of passengers.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
