Cosmetic new looks to old launches for risky Eid ride

Day in, day out-a section of unscrupulous owners are busy refurbishing their rundown vessels to give them cosmetic new looks to cash in on a mad rush of homebound people ahead of Eid.
Such hasty preparation forebodes risky ride to the southern districts once more, although a grim tragedy still haunts many minds, some experts and officials said.            
They are of the view that the safety issue of more than 0.5 million passengers from southern districts is being looked over, as some owners of water transports are mightier than the regulators.
The hasty repairing of outmoded and faulty vessels belying the regulators' monitoring exposes Achilles' heel in government authorities' firm commitment not to allow unfit vessels during the Eid journey.
Experts and passengers expressed their deep concern over the renovation-related developments taking place across the Buriganga river just beside the capital.
They say permission for passenger trips on faulty vessels coupled with overloading increases the risks manifold.
They also requested the government to take urgent measures for banning unfit ships as a safeguard against any repeat of the tragic Pinak-2 ferry disaster that left more than 120 people dead.
For a firsthand view of the preparation for Eid voyage, the FE correspondent visited nearly 40 dockyards located across the Buriganga in South Keraniganj. They found more than 50 passenger vessels in various shapes-some of leading launch companies-up for cosmetic paint-and-brush work and other repairs for setting sails again.
Dockyards' owners said operators of the vessels on various river routes usually make such renovation ahead of such festivals when the pressure of passengers is high only to have them look new and attract more passengers.
Mohammad Subhan, the owner of M/s Subhan Builders at Char Khajurbagh in South Keraniganj, said his firm has been renovating three old passenger ships over the last few weeks to make those completely fit for carrying passengers again.
He said a number of these launches have faults, either with their engines or bodies, and they required major repairs for safe sailing. A number of these vessels have already started their voyage with only visible refurbishing work done on them.
"We do the repairing jobs throughout the year but the number of such vessels goes up several times ahead of festivals like Eid," he said.
He said vessel owners don't want to miss even a single trip during the festival as they want to make sure that their vessels look fit and beautiful, and so they were putting pressure for finishing the refurbishing within a short time.
When asked about such unfit water transport, a staff member of the shipbuilder said they are not authorised to check fitness of vessels.
"From our working experience, we can tell whether a vessel is fit or not. Some unfit vessels were brought here for repair and we are just repairing and operators somehow managed to get fitness certificate in a short time," he said
But owners and official surveyors have denied the allegation. The ship owners have been doing repairing tasks on a regular basis to make some readjustments following instructions of the surveyors, they said.  
"But, unfortunately, media spread wrong perception about the service knowing nothing. If you visit the dockyards after the Eid festival, you will find the same picture. I can guarantee you that no unfit vessels will be allowed to carry home-goers," Vice-Chairman of Bangladesh Inland Waterways (passenger carriers) Association Saidur Rahman Rintu told the FE.
When contacted, Engineer, Surveyor and Registrar of Inland Ship at the Department of Shipping (DoS) Mirza Saifur Rahman said there was no possibility of the vessel getting fitness certificate before Eid because DoS needs around 35 to 45 days to complete inspection procedures.
He claimed that the ship owners had annual fitness certificates, but they were fixing some minor faults to ensure maximum safety. Besides, the owners want to give good looks to their vessels to attract passengers.
Seeking anonymity, a senior DoS official admitted that around 30 to 40 unfit vessels operate in each Eid rush and the department lacks enough skilled manpower and regulatory power to ensure journey with compliant ships.
"These unfit and unregistered vessels do not use launch terminals. They pick up and drop off passengers from mid-river or banks," he said.
He adds: "The passengers even do not care about fit or unfit vessels and the government bodies concerned are too busy with river traffic and security."  
A senior official of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) said they made a move for ending operation of unfit passenger ships through the water routes on several occasions in the past but that yielded no result as the owners are too powerful than the regulatory body.
"Over 400 vessels under the category 'D' have been declared unfit since 2000, but the declaration could not be implemented properly for various reasons," he added.
Talking about this conundrum, Convenor of Nou, Sarak O Rail-khat Rokkha Jatiya Committee Ashis Kumar Dey said people of the country each year observe that many unfit and faulty vessels become 'new' before Eid for a lack of government monitoring.
"It's the government responsibility to protect thousands of lives from such manmade disaster. We don't want to see any tragic incident and any further unexpected loss of our hardworking citizens. We want just safety on journey to pass the occasion with our families," he said.
According to Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), more than half a million people will leave the capital in the next three days ahead of Eid through the Sadarghat Launch Terminal.
Over 5,500 people had died and 1,236 gone missing (presumably never to return) in launch accidents across the country over the last 20 years, according to the BIWTA data.
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