Uttara crane tragedy: Writ seeks Tk1cr compensation for each victim 

A writ has been filed with the High Court (HC) seeking Tk1 crore as compensation for each of the five victims who were crushed to death after a 50-60 tonne girder fell on their car at Uttara's Jasimuddin road on Monday.

Lawyer Shahjahan Akand Masum filed the writ on behalf of Supreme Court (SC) lawyer Zakaria Khan on Wednesday (17 August).

On Tuesday (16 August), another writ petition was filed over the incident. 

SC lawyer Advocate Sagufta Ahmed moved the writ requesting HC directives to ensure proper investigation and action against those responsible for the tragic incident.

The writ also sought the implementation of all necessary safety and security measures for the movement of people.

The home secretary, roads and highways secretary, and LGRD secretary were made respondents to the writ.

Also, yesterday, when three lawyers drew HC's attention to the matter, the court advised the lawyers to file a writ petition in this regard.

The bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Mia and Justice Khizir Hayat made the suggestion.

Lawyer Barrister Sayed Mahsib Hossain, Advocate Jamiul Haque Faisal and Advocate Md Shahinuzzaman sought a suo moto order from the court in this regard. 

Then the court asked them to file a writ petition saying they will hear it.

On Monday, five people including two children were crushed to death two others were injured after a girder fell on a car in Uttara. 

Two passengers – a newly married couple Rezaul Karim Hridoy, 26 and Riya Akter, 19 – were rescued, but the rest of the passengers – Jharna Akter, 27, her two children Zakaria, 4, and Jannat, 6, and Hridoy's father Ayub Hossain Rubel, 55, and his mother-in-law Fahima Akter, 38, died on the spot.

The project to create separate lanes for specialised buses across an area of ​​about 20km from Gazipur to the airport is being implemented by three government agencies – the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), the Bangladesh Bridge Authority and the Local Government Engineering Department. Three project directors are in charge of coordinating the work of the three agencies.

The project work that started towards the end of 2012 as part of the plan to finish the construction of the BRT by 2016 has not been completed by one-third in 10 years. During this time, both the project completion tenure and cost have doubled.

Due to slow progress, the revised cost of the project has been estimated at Tk4,268.32 crore after a 109% or Tk2,228.48 crore hike from the initial estimation of Tk2,039.8489 crore. Three donor agencies, including the ADB, are providing Tk2,842.51 crore in loans for the project.