Making waterway journeys safer

The real tragedy behind all tragic incidents that occur in the country is that the authorities concerned only wake up from slumber when valuable human lives have already been lost in such incidents. They form commissions and committees findings of which are never made public nor are any appropriate actions taken. In fact, all the disasters that took place on waterways in the past, particularly in rainy season, were more or less usual. These are usual in the sense that they occur due to glaring lapses on the part of all who are in the business. While the government agencies are there to monitor working of a system that they alone must evolve, there are holes that still cost the traveling passengers heavily in terms of loss of human lives. After all, all these accidents are in reality man-made and these happen due to laxity and corruption involving the playing of the motor launches and vessels on inland water routes.
It is a fact that all the motor launches and vessels leave terminals; these are supposed to be manned by the government inspectors, owners or their representatives and law enforcement personnel. It is really not understandable how overloaded passenger launches are allowed to leave the boarding terminals without being checked by all of them. Money must really be what matters most in such terminals to those who are there round the clock. Then there is virtually none to check whether the departing launches are technically fit and have life-saving gears in those.
In the absence of stringent inspection, unfit vessels  are found to ply on inland water routes. A large number of vessels have not been built according to the approved designs. Owners sometimes freely change design parameters like the length and breadth, and even convert a one-storied ship to a multistoried one. In the case of a floating body like a ship, such modification must not be allowed unless they are supported by detailed technical analysis. Under such circumstances, one cannot expect a safe journey on a vessel which itself is unsafe and, consequently, accidents might happen at any time, irrespective of weather conditions, river routes and operating environment.
In this context, the formation of a five-member committee by the Department of Shipping (DoS) recently to survey technical aspects of all passenger launches is certainly a welcome step. But to make it really effective, sincerity and honesty of its members will be tested to the limit. The recent launch capsize in the Padma, as all reports indicate, was due to overloading. There were certainly lapses of strict supervision at the terminals or on the vessels' movement to the destination. Why can't the DoS employ inspectors aboard such launches? As the reports said, at first, the committee will carry out survey work in Mawa, Sadarghat, Narayanganj and Aricha Ghat area and later visit other river ports to check the conditions of passenger launches. But there must a permanent and round-the-clock arrangement for such checks at all terminals across the country.