After the fatal accident at Karwan Bazar rail crossing in the capital last year, Bangladesh Railway (BR) authorities were vigilant against illegal settlement on the sides of the rail tracks.
Frequent eviction drives were carried out from the Kamalapur rail station to the Airport station. And the authorities promised to continue such drives on a regular basis.
However, a recent visit to the rail tracks found that the situation had gone back to square one. Makeshift shops, bazars and houses are dotting the sides of the tracks.
People, who became a bit cautious after the death of four persons last year, were back to their usual business.
At Khilgaon railgate, though mobile hawkers are not seen during the early hours of the day, they crowd the area in late afternoon. As soon as they see trains approaching, they move away.
After Karwan Bazar crossing, the scene is soon taken over by small shanties where women and children, oblivious to dangers, go about their daily routine of cooking, showering, playing and household chores.
There are nine rail crossings from Kamalapur till Airport station. Due to such illegal establishments trains often have to slow down causing delays and mishaps.
Though the BR authorities should be conducting drives, they said they could not do so due to interference from local political muscles.
According to locals, some people connected to the ruling party collect toll from the hawkers and residents. Law enforcers and local politician also reportedly receive a share of the collected money.
When contacted BR’s Assistant Director (operations) Mohammad Saidur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune: “All the establishments on the two sides of the railway track is illegal. We take regular action to evict them but they reappear after the eviction with the help of powerful people.”
Another railway official, on assurance of anonymity, said: “When we go for drives, local influential people obstruct us. So we cannot carry out the drives completely. Hence we have taken an alternative. The trains go slow till the Airport station.”
Mohammad Amzad Hossain, managing director of BR, said: “We regularly monitor the situation and carry out drives because the safety of our passengers is our utmost priority. It is not true that we give in to powerful people.”
On September 11, 2014 at least four persons, including two women, were killed and five others received serious injuries when a train rammed into a makeshift market on its rail tracks. More than 200 people were near or on the rail track at the time when two trains – Karnaphuli Express heading to Chittagong and Jamuna Express coming from Jamalpur – rushed through the tracks from opposite directions in busy hours.
