& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Compensation fund for launch disaster victims

SHAHRIAR KARIM
The shipping ministry yesterday decided to create a special fund by levying passengers to give compensation to the families of launch disaster victims.
Each passenger travelling to a distance of up to 100 km on a river vessel will have to pay an extra Tk 0.50 per ticket. Above this distance, they will be charged Tk 1.
The decision will be made effective from July 1, according to sources. This special fund will be managed by a trustee board, comprising government officials, people's representatives and launch owners.
A meeting at the shipping ministry took the decision yesterday with Shipping Minister Akbar Hossain in the chair. Shipping Secretary Ghulam Rahman, chairmen of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), director general of the shipping department and other officials were present at the meeting.
"We have taken the decision as it would take time to introduce the
planned insurance scheme for the sector. We are having talks with insurance companies. As soon as we can make arrangements for insurance, the compensation fund will be diverted for that purpose," Akbar told The Daily Star yesterday.
The meeting also decided to form three separate teams to check whether the vessels plying the river have been properly designed and are equipped with all necessary safety equipment
If any ship is found faulty, its license and route permit will be cancelled. The teams will start working immediately and submit reports within three months, meeting sources said.
The teams will include 'master marine', marine engineers, naval architects and magistrates.
At present, about 2,100 passenger launches run on river routes. Of these, only 800 went for renewal of fitness certificates last year. And there are allegations that most of the 2,100 vessels run with gross structural faults.
The ministry in yesterday's meeting also decided to make ways for increasing the number of marine passenger vessels by at least 20 per cent to ease the pressure on the existing ones.
The decision was taken based on a conclusion that passengers are crowding launches because of lack of adequate number of vessels.
The authorities will invite interested investors to apply for licences. All new vessels will have to comply with the existing rules with proper structural designs.
Instructions were also given to the marine court to submit copies of its verdicts on a regular basis to the ministry as reports are there that the court does not take any action against offenders.
The meeting also took the decision to strengthen its vigilance on river vessels and to instruct the deputy commissioners to form
mobile teams for checking each vessel at the terminals at least twice a month.
Instructions will also be given to the navy and the coast guards to check whether vessels are plying with extra loads. They have to submit reports to the district administration.
Authorities will also keep boxes at launch terminals from June 1 and instruct passengers to leave a slip in them, mentioning their names, addresses, destinations and the names of the vessels they are boarding.
"The decision was taken to identify victims in case of accidents," Shipping Secretary Ghulam Rahman said.