Only a complete disregard for human life could have led to what happened on Monday, when at least 34 people lost their lives when one launch crashed into another at Sadarghat.
This is the latest amongst a series of launch-related accidents which have led to the unnecessary loss of life and what makes this doubly tragic is that there has been little action taken to prevent such accidents happening in the future.
In fact, when there is such a culture of negligence, we can no longer call these accidents, but mere tragedies waiting to happen.
As such, this latest accident -- which cost the lives of 21 men, eight women, and three children -- was less than surprising, considering the utter chaos that reigns in Sadarghat, constantly putting the lives of people at risk.
Experts have constantly blamed the negligence of launch owners and drivers for these accidents, who compete to anchor their vessels on the dock as a result of the utter lack of management at the terminal, which allows for such activity to go on undeterred.
Consequently, collisions of some sort or another are daily occurrences -- a dangerous status quo that must be changed immediately.
The entire situation is exacerbated by the culture of impunity present -- a culture which has been allowed to foment because there is no monitoring and surveillance present to hold these people accountable.
Currently, the terminal has adequate space to accommodate around 25 launches but, despite that, authorities see it fit to give permissions out for new launches, with no consideration for how the terminal will manage.
Until we hold reckless behaviour and negligence accountable, and bring some sort of order to Sadarghat, it is essentially a hotbed for disaster. This must change, before the lives of more people are lost.
