THE harrowing details of the bus-tanker accident on Jan 11, which claimed 62 lives, must have shocked everyone. The grief of the families for losing their breadwinners and would-be breadwinners in the inferno can be fully understood by placing ourselves in their shoes.

Both the chief minister and the DIG police have shown alacrity in ordering separate inquiries into the accident, which is good. But the inquiries, besides finding the causes of the accident and how their recurrence can be avoided, must include recommendations for providing relief to the families of those perished.

Also, the compensation, which may be announced by the government under the Fatal Accidents Act, 1855, must also be recovered from the insurance companies concerned. If the vehicles carry no insurance of appropriate value, then besides taking any other action against the owners, the committees should also recommend appropriate strict legal measures for sending the owners of such vehicles to jail. Such a law should in fact apply to all vehicles, which should be regularly checked by the police.

A mechanism should also be worked out for providing speedy compensation to the affected families, as exists for aircraft accident cases.

S.M. Anwar

Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2015

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