Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary

In August 2011, the government took up a Tk 1,946 crore project to procure 70 Metre Gauge (MG) locomotives to mitigate the growing crisis of rail engines and expanding the services of Bangladesh Railway.

Although there are no specific rules for the appointment of vice-chancellors (VCs) in public universities, there appears to be an unofficial yet mandatory criterion—a teacher has to be affiliated with a pro-government teacher’s panel to be nominated for the top post.

In a major breakthrough for the country’s first metro rail project, the construction of the entire 20.1-kilometre viaduct will be completed by the end of this month.

Every January, non-government organisations working on road safety publish reports on the number of road accidents and causalities and so does the police.

After two road safety organisations, a government report now shows that the road crashes and fatalities saw a big leap last year, indicating that the road safety situation deteriorated further.

The government is going to launch a special Covid-19 vaccination drive in the capital today for road transport workers, many of whom are still unvaccinated.

The government has taken 180 turn on its directive regarding buses running at half capacity to curb Covid-19 transmission, bending again to the pressure from transport workers and owners.

At a time when there’s a heightened public concern over traffic deaths and safety, the Road Safety Division of the RHD may soon cease to exist.

Transport leaders are at it once again: throwing their weight to get the government to take a decision that serves their interests.

The eagerly-awaited Dhaka metro rail project is set to witness huge cost escalation and time extension after a new drawback has shown up in the design: inconvenient entrance and exit points at the stations.

The government yesterday decided that only those vaccinated would be allowed to staff vehicles and vessels.

As the government fails to execute the ban on three-wheelers on highways and formulate regulatory guidelines, the illegal vehicles continue to take more lives.

With the country witnessing a sharp rise in the number of motorcycles over the last several years, around 40 percent of bikers are riding the two-wheelers without licences, making roads more prone to accidents.

The project to upgrade Hatirjheel-Amulia-Demra highway into a four-lane expressway is finally moving forward. The planned thoroughfare will work as an alternative gateway to Dhaka’s centre from Chattogram and Sylhet, and help reduce traffic congestion.

Bangladesh will see some great strides in its transportation system with a number of mega projects expected to come to fruition by the year-end, opening up new ways to boost economic growth.

The “rotation system”, the practice of operating fewer launches than what is permitted and overcrowding them with passengers, all to maximise profits, should be abolished, said the committee that investigated the MV Abhijan-10 fire incident.

Three officials of the Shipping Department and  BIWTA, four owners and four crew members of the MV Abhijan-10 are responsible for the fire on the vessel that killed 49, a probe committee has found.

Different bodies exist in Bangladesh to ensure road safety, but they are not empowered and lack effective coordination to get expected outcomes.

In June 2018, the Bangladesh Railways took up a Tk 3,602 crore project that would substantively enhance its operational capacity in three years.

Whenever a tragic incident hits the transport sector claiming people’s lives, a dismal picture of irregularities, mismanagement, and incompetence of the authorities gets exposed.