The National Committee to protect Shipping, Roads and Railways on Saturday demanded taking action against lakhs of illegal inland water vessels operating across the country.
NCPSRR president Mohammad Shahid Mia and general secretary Ashis Kumar Dey came up with the demand in a statement.
The organisation leaders also stressed the need for starting the vessel census immediately to prevent movement of illegal vessels.
According to the statement, the number of vessels registered by the Department of Shipping (DoS), the regulatory authority of the shipping sector, is only 14,000. However, there are more than 100,000 small and large vessels, including passenger and cargo ones, are operating across the country.
The terrible information on movement of more unregistered vessels than registered ones were revealed in written statements and speeches some former director generals of the DoS, it said.
River safety is not being ensured due to the large number of unregistered and unfit vessels and the risk of accidents continues to increase. Besides, the government is losing huge revenue every year due to non-payment of income taxes and VAT by lakhs of unregistered vessels.
Source: United News of Bangladesh