With the holy Eid-ul-Azha just around the corner, people have already started leaving the capital Dhaka to celebrate the religious festival with their near and dear ones. Of them many people along with their families will start going their village homes by waterways within a day or two.
The holy Eid-ul-Azha, the second biggest religious festival of Muslims, will be celebrated in the country on June 29. The government has decided to extend Eid-ul-Azha holidays of this year by a day with announcing June 27 a holiday through an executive order. Therefore, people will start leaving the capital Dhaka, other metropolitan cities and district towns in large scale from Tuesday afternoon after completing their office works on the last working day.
Taking the chance of huge rush, some dishonest and greedy people are allegedly getting prepared to operate many unfit, faulty and unregistered water vessels ahead of Eid. So, all concerned must remain alert and more cautious during the Eid journey to avoid accidents.
The government will have
to give its best to ensure the
safety of homebound people
on the waterways
The government will have to work relentlessly so that the home-bound passengers can reach their destinations safely and comfortably during the Eid festival. The movement of bulkhead cargoes must be stopped in the river routes for five days before and after the Eid.
The law enforcement agencies will have to conduct special surveillance on the movement of vessels to ensure safety on the waterways. The owners and workers of water vessels have to refrain from transporting extra passengers. The authorities concerned will have to increase special vigilance to stop any harassment including extortion and theft.
More than 3,735 people have been killed in 902 waterway accidents in the last 30 years from 1991 to 2021, mainly due to unfit vessels and driver incompetence and carelessness. Our country is enriched with about 24,00km of waterways which have been the common, traditional and cheaper mode of transportation for the people here. But frequent maritime accidents have led many to wonder over whether the maritime transportation system in the country has evolved with time or it has been totally forsaken by the authorities.
We hope that an accident-free and safe Eid journey would be possible if everyone, including public and private organisations related to boats and waterways, service-seeking people and naval police, work together. And the government will have to give its best to ensure safety of homebound people on the waterways during the upcoming holy Eid-ul-Azha.
