Not an accident, rather a case of gross negligence leading to death

A year ago, a bearing pad first fell off from the metro rail structure in the Farmgate area. As there were no casualties then, the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) did not take the matter seriously. That negligence has now led to history repeating itself — another bearing pad has fallen in the same spot after a year, claiming the life of a young man. His wife has lost her husband, and their two children are now orphans. The government has fixed the compensation at just five lakh taka. To make matters worse, the inquiry committee formed to investigate the incident is headed by the former managing director of the same DMTCL — the very organisation whose irresponsibility caused this fatal disaster for the second time. Both these government decisions are nothing short of mockery towards the public and will only increase the risk of future accidents.

After the second bearing pad incident, experts have offered various opinions. Some pointed to design flaws during construction; others said low-quality bearing pads might have been used, while some blamed poor maintenance. But the most important question is this: why did DMTCL fail to identify the cause of the first incident and take proper corrective action? When the first bearing pad fell on 18 September 2024, it could be attributed to design or construction flaws. But when, after a year, a bearing pad again fell from the same Line-6 of the same project, it can no longer be dismissed as a design or construction defect. The entire responsibility lies with DMTCL officials — especially those in the Operations and Maintenance Department and those connected to Line-6 — who cannot escape accountability.

There must have been an inquiry after the first incident, and the Operations and Maintenance Department was expected to act on that report. The second accident makes it clear that the department failed to do so. On top of that, following the second incident last Sunday, DMTCL’s Director (Planning and Development) and a member of the earlier inquiry committee, Md Abdul Baki Miah, told the media, “Several recommendations were made back then. I can’t remember exactly what they were.” (Source: Daily Ajker Patrika, 28 October 2025). That says it all. Therefore, DMTCL’s responsible officials must be held directly accountable for this second tragedy and the resulting death. Disciplinary action could be taken against them immediately, without waiting for another inquiry report.

The new inquiry should instead determine the repeated causes of such accidents and document the negligence of DMTCL officials in detail so that decisive punitive measures can be taken. The metro rail project was implemented during the previous Awami League government, when administrative cadre officers dominated almost all mega projects, even the highly technical ones. In the case of DMTCL, both former managing directors were non-technical officers. Even the project director of Line-6 during construction, Aftabuddin Talukder, was a non-technical officer.

At that time, there was even a rule that only an administrative cadre secretary could serve as DMTCL’s managing director. This short-sighted and absurd policy was not unique to the metro rail; the same was seen in the Elevated Expressway and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects. In the BRT project, too, a girder collapse caused multiple fatalities, yet no action was taken against the responsible administrative cadre officials. After the current interim government came to power, an expert engineer was appointed as DMTCL’s managing director — a positive step. Unfortunately, even after eight months in charge, he took no substantial action regarding the first bearing pad incident. It seems that even technical experts turn negligent once they occupy bureaucratic posts.

After the first accident, there were many questions about the procurement of bearing pads. Several media outlets conducted investigations and published detailed reports. The most significant revelation was that when the pads were procured from the Italian-Thai company, BUET testing had found some pads substandard — yet they were still used. Why? The inquiry committee after the first incident should have investigated that. It could have exposed corruption in the procurement of essential project components. If the authorities had checked where else such substandard pads were installed and taken action accordingly, the second accident could have been prevented.

Shockingly, even after the second accident, DMTCL officials said they had no stock of other bearing pads and replaced the fallen one with another from the same Italian-Thai company batch. This shows extreme indifference. By reusing defective pads from the same supplier, DMTCL has put millions of city commuters at risk of yet another accident. In any civilised country, if there were even the slightest safety risk, that section of the line would be closed immediately to both trains and the public.

The Italian-Thai company also worked on the Elevated Expressway. Although a Japanese contractor oversaw the main work, several sub-contractors, including Italian-Thai, handled different sections of the metro rail. For example, Abdul Monem Limited was responsible for the stretch from Agargaon to Karwan Bazar. After the first incident at Farmgate, DMTCL should have questioned Abdul Monem Limited as well — but it did not. The Italian-Thai company should have been compelled to re-inspect all bearing pads along the entire metro line and test all stock pads, replacing any that failed quality checks.

The Japanese contractor should also have been required to correct any design flaws. Instead, through sheer irresponsibility, DMTCL has paved the way for yet another deadly disaster. This tragic death of a young man is therefore not just an accident — it is a case of gross negligence leading to manslaughter. The new inquiry committee must treat it as such. Moreover, the five lakh taka compensation and a job offer cannot possibly be the end of the matter. A dedicated compensation committee should be formed to determine fair reparation for the devastated family. Above all, unless the authorities take stern action against those responsible, it will only prove that the risk of another major disaster is being deliberately kept alive.

Rased Mehedi is the Editor of Views Bangladesh and an Information Technology Analyst.