Dhaka: Former caretaker government adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman on Saturday called upon all to work together to get rid of road accidents, subsequent loss of lives saying some 4,000 people die every year in Bangladesh due to road accidents.

He said Bangladesh also suffers an economic loss of nearly Tk 5 billion annually for road crashes.

The renowned economist was addressing a press conference at National Press Club where a new platform, ‘Safe Roads and Transport Alliance (Srota)’, was launched to create awareness among all to reduce road accidents and help improve overall road management.

Brac’s senior director of strategy, communications and empowerment programme Asif Saleh, chairperson of Nirapod Sorok Chai Ilias Kanchan, prominent writer and researcher Syed Abul Maksud, general secretary of Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, organising secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation Mukhlesur Rahman, and civil society leaders were, among others, present, said a press release.

Nirapod Sorok Chai, Brac, Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners Association, Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association and Bangladesh Society for Emergency Medicine are the six organizations working on behalf of the alliance.  

Researcher and writer Syed AbulMaksud, organising secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation Mukhlesur Rahman, will work with the alliance. Brac will be handling all the official responsibilities for the alliance.

Mentioning ‘Srota’ as a unified platform, Hossain Zillur said, ‘We would like to bring a rewarding change to check road accidents. We need to take a coordinated initiative.’