Our ‘death inviting festivals’

Our Eid festivals have understandably turned into festivals inviting a regular spree of road accidents in recent times. It is, as if, the patterns have been designed in such way that every year they keep repeating in a well synchronised manner. 
Traffic authorities concerned could do little other than get accustomed to the extravaganza of avoidable deaths in our roads during the pre and post Eid phases. This year, according to a report compiled by the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh (PWAB) - 254 were killed and 696 were injured in a total number of 205 road accidents during the Eid-Ul-Azha festival alone.
The account was prepared based on reports published in 22 national dailies, six regional dailies and 10 online news portals. Moreover, during the same period, 43 people were reported to be crushed under trains and 25 others were killed following 63 cases of injuries in at least 15 waterways accidents. Not to mention, apart from the reported deaths there were other unregistered accidents to have made the list longer.
Had Bangladesh been an advanced and a responsible nation of the 21st century, the statistics would have rung the alarm-bells by now. The question now automatically arises -- what are we doing to deter the recurrence of pre and post-Eid accidents?
What are usually covered by the various TV channels and newspapers before the two major festivals are -- when and how bus, train and launch tickets will be sold, the sorry state of some of our roads visited by the overtly worried minister, firing of a few government employees for indulging in corruption and scattered scenes and descriptions of how roads are being quickly repaired through makeshift arrangements, and also how old launch and steamers are given a new facelift. Given the increasing number of accidents occurring in our roads during Eid festivals, we fear -- deaths due to road accidents is likely to shoot-up in the days ahead. 

***Traffic authorities concerned could do little other than get accustomed to the extravaganza of avoidable deaths in our roads during the pre and post Eid phases. This year, according to a report compiled by the Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh (PWAB) - 254 were killed and 696 were injured in a total number of 205 road accidents during the Eid-Ul-Azha festival alone.***

Whatever, so many lives wouldn't have been lost during the pre and post Eid phases -- if traffic, highway police and vigilant teams would engage in their duties together -- ensuring safe travelling all across the country. Given the poor condition of roads due to floods and rains this year, we should have been extra-ordinarily precautious. In fact, if we had taken last year's Eid accident statistics of 248 dead and 1, 056 injured from 193 road accidents seriously -- the numbers, this year would have dropped significantly.
The truth -- despite 20, 000 plus accidents for over three decades, we are still a far cry to introduce and enforce new stricter laws. We still have little control over hundreds of juvenile, unfit and unskilled drivers. And evidently, we are failing to guarantee safe travelling to our passengers.
Be that as it may, like many times before, this writer will continue to make calls for making our roads safer. At least drawing lessons from this year's deaths and injuries, our Roads, Bridges and Communications department should come up with a more effective mechanism for identifying the recurrence of 'Eid accidents' in the country.
We must not only focus to install cctv camera facilities on all the vulnerable and dangerous roads, we must also make them free of danger. Most significantly, our government and concerned ministries should start become accountable for each and every road accident -- during and beyond Eid.
Question is how many drivers have been punished for reckless driving and killings of all the people during this year's pre and post Eid phases? Has anyone even been reported to be arrested for driving vehicles illegally? How many families of the recent 254 victims been compensated in the past two weeks? Let alone in the past decade.
There will be almost no answers to my above queries. We get truly annoyed when some intellectuals, experts, ministers or analysts pretend to be 'optimists' despite such horrific rate of road accidents in the country. One can become optimist when there are some visible and proven changes, but what's the point for painting unrealistic scenes when deaths in our roads continue to rise despite all sweet-talks and impractical promises?
The point is simple - our major two festivals have become festivals inviting deaths and injuries in roads -- both for the homebound and returning passengers. The fear is, if this continues perhaps many would refrain from travelling in festive seasons. In the place of showering with joy, the journeys for celebration now end bringing sorrow for many families.
The angel of death seems to be inviting itself through all the holes of our indifference and failures to avert the huge number of avoidable road accidents. With increased casualties its grin gets larger.
As of now, enough has been written and discussed about our road accidents in the country, but in reality little has changed. However, the continuing trend despite 'enough writing' and 'little change' clearly suggests -- road accidents with or without festivals or under any circumstances are far away from taken seriously?
Like it or not -- we perhaps need a bigger catastrophe in our roads -- to wake up to our sleeping senses.

The writer is Assistant Editor of
the Daily Observer