Losing Direction?

The death toll from a capsized boat in Panchagarh, the northern district of Bangladesh, was reportedly 61 confirmed fatalities - two days after the tragedy struck on Sep 25. Amidst wailing relatives and vigilant police officers, rescue divers searched haplessly for dead bodies in high hopes of finding survivors. But prospects were bleak for the ten missing out of more than 80 on board. Alas, this heart-wrenching accident, shocking for many of us, is not an anomaly for Bangladesh - a low-lying nation bordered by the Bay of Bengal with extensive inland waterways. However, the underlying problem is not the ill-omened geography inherited by the country. But the issue is correlated with the rapidly growing population of Bangladesh - and resources that just cannot keep up!

The investigative committee appraising the incident concluded that the boat, bearing a chorus of Hindu pilgrims, was carrying three times its capacity. Due to lax safety standards and non-existent regulatory controls, such incidents are commonplace in Bangladesh. According to research, dozens of people die annually in ferry accidents. The fundamental cause: Travelling beyond the capacity threshold of the boats. A similar incident sparked a furore in 2015 when more than 78 people died in a collision between a cargo vessel and an overcrowded ferry in a river west of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Such accidents, unfortunately, are not limited to sinking boats.

Lack of regulatory discipline has also constituted a high rate of road accidents. In 2016, more than 157 people died in traffic collisions across the country during the Eid holidays, according to the Bangladesh Passengers’ Welfare Association. Bus accidents are particularly acute during festivals as a spate of people travel from urban centres to rural towns to celebrate customary rituals. The passengers swarm buses while drivers pay no heed to flimsy traffic regulations, disregarding safety protocols en route to earn a quick buck. As a result, about 13,000 people die in road crashes in Bangladesh annually, according to the Dhaka-based Centre for Injury Prevention and Research. While many domestic critics traditionally rail at the lack of poor judgment of the passengers and the absence of a strict administrative code, many often discount the factor of overpopulation matching inadequate resources - manifested in paradigms of overcrowded boats and buses.

Bangladesh is the 8th most populous nation in the world, with a population of almost 170 million people. However, its total area is approximately 147,570 square kilometres (km²) - the 94th largest land area in the world. This demographical mismatch makes Bangladesh one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Just picture the classic traffic congestions in Karachi or a horde of commuters typically dangling from local trains in New Delhi. The officially reported population density in Pakistan and India is 287 people/km² and 428 people/km², respectively. In stark comparison, Bangladesh has a population density of 1265 people/km² - the 8th highest in the world. And despite the recent reduction in the fertility rate, about 253 people are added to the Bangladeshi population each hour, according to a report by the National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT) - an autonomous research organization in Bangladesh involved in family planning research and projects. Thus, a surging population alongside trailing means has pushed Bangladesh to the cusp of social and economic fallout.