The death toll from a capsized boat in Panchagarh, Bangladesh’s northern district, is reported to have been 61, confirmed two days after the September 25 tragedy. hoping to find survivors. But the outlook was bleak for the ten missing out of more than 80 on board. Alas, this harrowing accident, shocking to many of us, is no anomaly for Bangladesh, a low-lying nation bordered by the Bay of Bengal with vast inland waterways. However, the underlying problem is not the country’s inherited ominous geography, it is correlated to Bangladesh’s rapid population growth and resources that simply cannot keep up!
The investigative committee tasked with assessing the incident concluded that the boat, carrying a cargo of Hindu pilgrims, was carrying three times its capacity. Due to lax safety standards and non-existent regulatory oversight, such incidents are commonplace in Bangladesh. According to research, dozens of people die each year in ferry accidents. The fundamental cause: travelers beyond the capacity threshold of the boats. A similar incident sparked an uproar in 2015 when more than 78 people died in a collision between a cargo ship and an overcrowded ferry in a river west of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s metropolis. Such accidents, unfortunately, are not limited to shipwrecks.
The 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 holiday, according to the Bangladesh Passengers’ Welfare Association. Bus crashes are particularly acute during festivals, as a wave of people travel from urban centers to rural towns to celebrate customary rituals.
Passengers throng buses while drivers pay no heed to flimsy traffic rules, ignoring safety protocols along the way to earn a quick buck. As a result, about 13,000 people die each year in road accidents in Bangladesh, according to the Dhaka-based Injury Prevention and Research Center. While many national critics traditionally denounce poor passenger judgment and the absence of a strict administrative code, many often overlook the overcrowding factor corresponding to insufficient resources, which manifests itself in paradigms of boats and buses. overcrowded.
Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country in the world, with a population of nearly 170 million. However, its total area is about 147,570 km², the 94e largest land area in the world. This demographic mismatch makes Bangladesh one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Just imagine the classic traffic jams in Karachi or a horde of commuters usually hanging from local trains in New Delhi. The officially declared population density in Pakistan and India is 287 persons/km² and 428 persons/km², respectively. By comparison, Bangladesh has a population density of 1265 people/km², the eighth highest in the world. And despite the recent reduction in the fertility rate, around 253 people are being added to the Bangladeshi population every 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 Thus, a growing population alongside means of flight has pushed Bangladesh to the brink of social and economic fallout.
Bangladesh’s economy has remained in the limelight for the past two decades, growing steadily at around 6% per year on average. Certainly, Bangladesh has dazzled the world with the pace of its economic growth. It has a per capita income (GDP per capita) of over $2,000, surpassing India, the world’s fifth largest economy.
However, industrial expansion masked the inadequacy of resources and opportunities, continually worsening Bangladesh’s social profile. Despite several major infrastructure projects, sprawling roads and energy networks have done little to improve living standards in Bangladesh.
The Bangladeshi administration should also discern that the strategic redistribution and mobilization of its human resources could quickly turn its growing responsibility into a lasting asset. Yet this would only be possible if the leaders collectively fought for the social rejuvenation of Bangladesh and avoided the greed schemes that have brought Pakistan and Sri Lanka to their current crossroads.
According to the Asian Development Bank (AfDB), despite having one of the highest literacy rates among South Asian countries, more than a fifth of the general population of Bangladesh still lives below the poverty line. . A study by UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Program for Sustainable Urban Development, found that Dhaka is one of the most populous cities in the world, with more than 44,500 people inhabiting one square kilometer of ‘space. How is Bangladesh ostensibly prospering economically when its people are in dire straits? The answer to such glaring disparity is not just overpopulation; also dwindling resources due to endemic political corruption.
Despite its phenomenal economic growth, Bangladesh recently applied to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $4.5 billion loan package, after Pakistan and Sri Lanka as the third South Asian country to approach the multilateral lender in recent months. But curiously, the news flew under the radar, unlike the sensational headlines circulating in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Perhaps because, in the case of Bangladesh, the request was devoid of political theatrics in the background. Or because Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed described the looming crisis as “fiscal support” instead of a desperate bailout.
Unfortunately, this narrative is not well served by recent history. Since 2019, Bangladesh has received $5.8 billion in budget support from various multilateral agencies. In reality, the so-called ‘symbol of self-reliance’, Bangladesh is facing a fiscal crisis due to the rampant corruption that plagues an increasingly consumer-centric population.
According to Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based think tank that focuses on illicit financial flows and money laundering, an estimated $8.27 billion was diverted from Bangladesh each year between 2009 and 2018 via embezzlement in the trade of goods and services.
Bangladeshi deposits in Swiss banks soared by more than 55% last year as Bangladesh Bank, the country’s central bank, continued to mask big scams and bad debts to paint a rosy picture for investors. foreigners seduced by the vaunted industrial success. In the end, as the country develops at an acceleration, it is unfortunately at the expense of the general population of Bangladesh.
The massive exodus of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar since 2017 has further weakened the social fabric of Bangladesh. With an influx of hundreds of thousands of foreign refugees and an elusive legacy of fraudulent elections, I can’t help but imagine Bangladesh following in Pakistan’s footsteps. However, with a diverse industrial base and a relatively literate adult population, Bangladesh can avoid the lost decades suffered by Pakistan.
The developed world must understand that an escalating crisis in Myanmar would jeopardize the development of Bangladesh. And simply throwing money away without social construction or regulatory caution would only exacerbate inequality in Bangladesh, which could subsequently lead to radicalization.
The Bangladeshi administration should also discern that the strategic redistribution and mobilization of its human resources could quickly turn its growing responsibility into a lasting asset. Yet this would only be possible if the leaders collectively fought for the social rejuvenation of Bangladesh and avoided the greed schemes that have brought Pakistan and Sri Lanka to their current crossroads.
