BANGLADESH: Latest Ferry Deaths Point to Old Problems

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Tabibul Islam

DHAKA, Jul 15 2003 (IPS) - A week after the worst ferry disaster in Bangladesh’s living memory this month, grief-stricken family members and relatives of the hundreds still missing pace the banks of swollen rivers, clutching on to any hope.

Babul, a worker with a garment factory in Dhaka, was on the MV Nasrin with his wife, five-year-old Rabbi, and his brother on Jul. 8. The family members found each other after the ferry sank that day on the way from the capital Dhaka for the southern district of Bhola – but not little Rabbi.

Breaking down in grief, Babul was wailing at the riverbank of Chandpur, not too far from where the vessel sank. ”I won’t leave Chandpur until and unless I get back my dear son Rabbi – dead or alive,” he said, beating his chest in despair.

This South Asian country remains in mourning for the 500 people believed to have perished in the disaster, but the reasons behind the tragedy are far from new.

Since 1977, official figures show that some 3,247 people have lost their lives in 257 accidents involving river craft in this South Asian country, which is criss-crossed by mighty rivers and a skein of tributaries.

In the tragic history of Bangladesh’s system for river transport, the vessels are often overcrowded, have poor safety features and devices.

The MV Nasrin was supposed to carry 300 passengers but news reports say it may have been carrying 750 people. Also aboard were an estimated 35 tonnes of cargo, even though loading cargo into a passenger launch is prohibited.

The vessel may also have had structural faults. These faults render a vessel extremely vulnerable to wind and collisions, leading to fatal accidents, says Dr Reaz Hasan Khondokar, professor of marine engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

”When a properly designed vessel sinks in bad weather, it takes time to do so,” he explained. ”But one with structural problems may capsize within a short time or break into pieces, creating a death trap for passengers.”

The sort of death trap that led to the deaths of passengers of the MV Nasrin threatens about three million people who use Bangladesh’s waterways everyday. For the most part they travel in country boats, of which there are estimated to be over half a million.

River navigation authorities estimate that there are 12,000 large, medium and small vessels plying various routes which cover 10,000 kilometres of navigable waterways.

Yet marine engineers claim that a majority of these vessels are built to designs incompatible with the operating conditions they face in Bangladesh. ”These vessels run without life jackets, lifebuoys, fire-fighting equipment and lighting,” said an engineer, requesting anonymity. ”Many of the crew members and ship’s masters lack proper navigation training.” The lack of attention to safety standards on Bangladesh’s rivers, and the corruption that is alleged to be rife within the Department of Shipping and the Inland Water Transport Authority has contributed to the ghastly toll from ferry accidents.

The real death toll from the sinking of the MV Nasrin may never be known, as in past accidents where the vessels were never recovered.

But the combined toll from it is very likely considerably higher – inclement weather during the monsoon and the difficulties of mounting rescues in large rivers lead to a number of bodies going missing.

Preventive and regulative machinery either does not exist or is woefully inadequate. At Dhaka’s Sadarghat ferry terminal, where 30,000 passengers board or alight from vessels every day, only five inspectors are on duty to monitor the 200 launch movements into and out of the terminal.

More serious is the absence of legislation to correct the root of the problem – launch owners who are able to operate vessels that are structurally unsound, fill them far beyond their rated capacities and without safety measures.

The law only provides for punishment to a launch master, who faces imprisonment of up to five years and a fine the equivalent of 200 U.S. dollars if found responsible for an accident.

Following the Nasrin sinking, some 140 officials and staff of the bustling Sadarghat terminal, where the vessel departed from, were merely transferred for having permitted the vessel to sail.

Not a single government official or employee has been punished for allowing passenger launches to operate overloaded or without safety measures.

”Government leaders promptly make assurances immediately after an accident takes place,” a member of an opposition party complained. ”But after some time the public outcry and media attention die down, and the problems remain where they are.”