The Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga and the Kuril Kanchan expressways have become another name for deathtraps. Last year the Dhaka-Mawa expressway witnessed 64 road accidents resulting in 28 deaths and 85 severe injuries.
December alone has seen the demise of 10 persons. Meanwhile, the Kuril-Kanchan Expressway, better known as 300 feet has caused the deaths of 10 individuals.
Different government-led investigations have alleged overspeeding of vehicles as the main cause of accidents in these areas.
However, Transport experts, Highway police and Bangladesh Bus Owners Association have accused the unplanned infrastructure to be the cause of this chaos.
Two teachers from BUET’s Accident Research Institute states that, due to the lack of monitoring regarding safe driving is the root of all these accidents.
No effective measure has been taken to prevent unplanned intersections and overspeeding of vehicles
Two of these main expressways in the country lack proper administrative steps, says the director of BUET’s Accident Research Institute Professor Dr. Shamsul Haque.
Haque says, ‘We have identified operational deficiencies in several sections. The preceding government limited the vehicles to speeds not over 80 kilometers per hour. But this instruction does not align with the traffic environment.’
‘The standard limit in expressways is 80 kilometers. But It is quite difficult to control a car at this speed while driving in dense fog. Yet drivers, more often than not, fail to consider this environmental situation. Additionally, the instructive signs are not put in front of clear vision in some spots.’, He added.
Member of the National Committee for Road and Highway Division and Assistant professor of ARI Dr. Armana Sahiba Haque says, ‘The Bhanga-Mawa expressway is designed in a way to effectively increase the speed of the vehicles. The drivers are unable to control speed even if they want. There are small culverts around. But lack of extended curbs are leading to devastating accidents.’
Highway Police additional IGP Shahabudding Khan agrees with Armana when he says, ‘we have spent quite a lot of money to build these expressways only to blame the drivers and the police for the accidents while completely ignoring the mismanagement of the roads. The situation has created a fix 22 situation. Even if we try to reshape the entire expressways, we are only arranging further suffering of the masses.’
Executive director Private research organization Road Safety Foundation Mr. Saidur Rahman says, ‘The kind of road infrastructure we possess , expressways are nothing but luxuries. We could have disciplined the mass transport system first. What kind of vehicles would use National Highways and Local highways, how would emergency service lines be implemented- we are yet to discover. In this situation building high speed expressways were bound to create chaos.
Massive shortcomings in law enforcement: Dr. Shamsul Haque
BUET professor Dr. Shamsul Haque has discovered a number of reasons leading to the horrible accidents on expressways. He blames mismanagement and negligence of the BRTA, Highway Police and The Directorate of Public Roads.
Haque says, ‘We normally blame the drivers for the accidents. But is the driver actually to blame? Who is enforced to monitor fitness of the vehicles, route permits? Do we ever question BRTA, Highway Police and The Directorate of Public Roads doing their job ?
Allowing drivers to drive without properly educating them with road safety rules is a crime in itself. In short, lack of proper enforcement isb the actual culprit behind these accidents.’
Over the years countless allegations against the malpractices of BRTA have been lodged, only to encounter the continuation of these corruption committed by the authorities.
In these circumstances, Haque advocates for privatisation of the entire Transport authority.
According to0 him, the number of vehicles have quadrupled in the last 16 years. BRTA can’t practically serve these massive amounts of transports. Hence it's better to distribute the service into private hands.
Deputy director (enforcement) of BRTA Hemayet Uddin informs that, ‘there is a vacuum of magistrates that would monitor the entire process. Inadequate workforce has also been adverse towards the situation. District police are occasionally helping us tackle the situation. We are inflicting a 25 thousand Taka fine for the drivers that violate road law.’
Last Wednesday (January 1), at the BRTA divisional office in Mirpur, the organization’s chairman, Md. Yasin announced that operations by magistrates will commence to restore order on the roads. Plans are being made for these magistrate operations. A training center will be established for bus drivers and contractors.
When asked about the comments made by BUET professor Shamsul Haque regarding the privatization of BRTA services, the chairman declined to comment.
On December 27, a horrific accident occurred at the Dhaleshwari toll plaza on the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga expressway. A private car and a motorcycle were crushed by a bus from the Bhola-bound Bapari Transport, which was stopped to pay the toll. Both the private car and motorcycle were severely damaged, leading to the deaths of six individuals, including four members of the same family in the private car.
Early last Wednesday, a passenger bus from Purabasha Transport collided with a stationary truck in the Pulia area of Chandara Union in the Bhanga upazila of the expressway. This resulted in the deaths of truck driver Nur Alam and Kader Mia, the assistant driver of the passenger bus.
Between midnight Thursday and early Friday, four more individuals lost their lives in separate accidents. According to highway police, around midnight on Thursday, a minibus from Abdullah Transport collided with the rear of a covered van in the Nimtoli area, causing severe damage to the minibus. In this incident, the bus helper, Md. Jibon (44), and passenger Md. Raihan (27) was killed.
On Friday morning, two more individuals were killed in the Hassara area of the expressway, although their identities have not yet been revealed.
Following the accident at the Dhaleshwari toll plaza, the bus owner, Dabu Bapari, and bus driver, Md. Nuruddin, was sent to jail. It was later revealed that the driver of the Bapari Transport bus, Nuruddin, was under the influence of drugs.
Leaders of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association have expressed concern about drug abuse among transport drivers, as reported by Md. Saiful Alam, the general secretary of the Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association. He stated that bus owners are conducting counseling sessions for drivers and other workers every 15 days to help them overcome addiction. Recommendations have also been made to ensure adequate rest and recreational arrangements for drivers to keep them alert.
