Editorial
Launch tragedy in Bhola
This playing with human lives must stop
THE death toll in the launch mishap in the river Tentulia on Friday night has already crossed 60 and many more passengers are still missing. It was the kind of disaster that we have been watching on a regular basis whenever there is a heavy rush of passengers during any major festival.
The Bhola-bound MV Coco-4 keeled over very close to the river terminal when its bottom cracked, or it lost balance due to the passengers assembling on one side of its roof in large numbers, just when the vessel was about to anchor at the terminal. Whatever might be the reason, there is no denying that the safety of passengers was badly compromised. The launch operators had little sense of the impending danger, and it is evident that the launch was overloaded way above its capacity. And most of the victims are reported to be children and women who had absolutely no chance of swimming ashore.
The rescue operations that follow such disasters are usually very slow and the rescuers do not often succeed in lifting anything more than the sunken vessel with all the lives lost. But in the case of Bhola tragedy, the official rescue operation came too late for any good, although the launch had turned upside down very close to the terminal. Local people lent a hand but it was too little, too late, In fact, the rescue ship Hamza, reached the spot the following day, so it was just lifting the craft and recovery of corpses. It seems nothing is in place to respond quickly to a launch capsize and everybody is caught napping.
During festivals, the authorities are focused on increasing the number of river crafts or the frequency of trips without sparing a thought on correspondingly ensuring safety precautions in river journeys or planning for contingency like a rescue operation.
The shipping minister has said what all his predecessors used to say after such mishaps. Formation of a five-member inquiry committee that is supposed to submit its report in seven days sounds too perfunctory. Expression of sympathy for the victims is also not enough to console those who have lost their near and dear ones. There should be arrangements for compensation to the victims' families.
The issue has to be included in the government's list of areas where firm action is needed to set things right. Dozens of committees were formed in the past following such tragedies and scores of suggestions and recommendation were tossed in, but what is the result? Launch capsize continues to be a matter of great worry.
It is really not acceptable that worn out, overloaded launches with faulty designs still operate in different routes. It is absolutely imperative for the government to ensure that launch owners and operators do not put commercial considerations ahead of human safety.
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