Dhaka: Road accidents across the country witnessed a fall significantly during the Eid holidays compared to the last year due mainly to the government’s measures to maintain traffic rules, especially on highways.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, highway police reported a total of 138 accidents in which 96 people have died and 100 persons received major injuries while 150 others sustained minor injuries during the Eid vacation from March 25 to April 5. A total of 221 motor vehicles were involved in crashes, including 43 buses, 17 trucks, 36 motorbikes, 29 three-wheelers, 36 unidentified vehicles, and 60 other modes of vehicles.
During the vacation of the last year’s Eid-ul-Fitr, a total of 399 road accidents took place in the country claiming 407 lives and leaving 1,398 people injured. ‘Our patrol teams with highways police personnel were alert on different highways. They used loudspeakers and announced cautionary measures asking drivers to drive safely maintaining traffic rules,’ Md Delwar Hossain Mian, Additional Inspector General of Police (Addl-IGP), Highway Police told BSS here today.
He stated that the law enforcement agencies tightened surveillance and ensured security measures on the roads to keep the situation under control across the country before and after the Eid this year. Mian added that the highway police enforced strict adherence to road safety instructions among motorcyclists and drivers of passenger buses during their Eid journey.
‘We have installed check posts at toll plazas of major bridges and checked how many trips a single driver was conducting. Our teams also collected drivers’ cell numbers for giving them necessary cooperation,’ the Addl IGP stated.
Talking to BSS, Md Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, General Secretary of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, noted that a total of 215 road accidents occurred across Bangladesh during the Eid holiday from March 24 to April 4. He reported that road crashes took 239 lives and injured 516 people. Compared to the last year, this year’s road accidents came down significantly, added Mozammel.
Before the Eid vacation, home affairs adviser Lieutenant General (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury assured newsmen that the Eid journey this year would be comfortable due to the good management of the government. He assured that Eid holidaymakers would be able to go home without any inconvenience.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) also launched a central control room operating round the clock from March 28 to April 5, aiming at facilitating the easy movement of homebound passengers across the country during the Eid. The government also issued warnings of strict action against traffic rule violations to reduce road accidents across the country. As part of the government’s campaign, dope tests were made obligatory for vehicle drivers.