& 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

Probe body on Meghna launch disaster formed

Rafiq Hasan
The government has formed a three-member committee to investigate Thursday's launch disaster in the Meghna in Barisal.
The collision between passenger-launches MV Asha Jaoa and MV Sattar Khan-1 happened in the small hours Thursday at Charmonia under Hijla upazila, leaving at least 15 dead and scores of others injured.
The committee headed by Nautical Surveyor and Examiner Captain K M Jashimuddin Sarkar of the shipping department has been assigned to ascertain the actual causes of the accident and identify the persons responsible.
The two other members of the committee are Special Magistrate and Marine Safety Officer Fazlur Rahman and Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman of Inland Ship Survey Office, Khulna.
The team has been briefed to visit the place of occurrence and submit its report within two weeks.
It has also been asked to evaluate any violation of rules of the Inland Shipping Ordinance and make specific recommendations for avoiding such accidents in the future, shipping department sources said.
But different quarters expressed doubts over whether the probe would be able to find out the causes and whether its report would be made public.
A preliminary investigation by the shipping department found MV Asha Jaoa to have been carrying a stability certificate, which is void, being issued by a naval architect who is not member of the panel of supervisors authorised by the government to do so.
Sources alleged the probe committees on launch disasters were always formed with people from the shipping department, which is responsible for regulating the inland shipping and the safety of the passengers. As a result, the probe bodies always avoid reporting against any staff of the department, sources said.
"Not a single probe report pointed fingers at the shipping department officials who allowed those vessels to ply without survey certificate or with faulty design," said a high official of the shipping ministry, requesting anonymity.
Another three-member committee, headed by Chief Engineer Jashimuddin Ahmed of the shipping department, formed to probe MV Mitali-3 disaster of May last year also failed to come up with any specific recommendation.
"We could not make any recommendation due to lack of consensus among us," said a member of that committee.