HYDERABAD: More private buses came under the radar of RTA in 2019 than the previous year, as the tax collections increased from Rs 1 crore to Rs 8 crore, however, there seems to be no reduction in the number of buses meeting with accidents. Based on reports, in the last three months, there were at least 10 incidents involving buses bound for Telangana, in which at least 19 died and 100 were injured.
While the most recent one is of a private bus catching fire near ORR in Kokapet with no reported casualties, right at the beginning of this month, a bus from a private travel company en route to Hyderabad crashed into a median in Maharashtra and left two injured.
Officials note that from their end, the vigilance on private buses has increased with documentation being checked regularly which directly implies that the due checks are conducted routinely. “Majority of the accidents happen due to over-speeding. RTA authorities regularly check all documents across the RTO check posts, so the discrepancies are in terms of speeding or road conditions or other factors,” noted C Ramesh, Joint Transport Commissioner.
However, a February GO No 6 mandated the use of speed governors in all commercial transport vehicles like buses and lorries manufactured after 2015. But as the rules do not come with a penalty for not following them, there is no data on whether they are actually fitted in the buses.
This makes the situation extremely crucial as from Hyderabad itself, at least 1,100 buses ply every day to different parts of the country putting the passengers at great risk. “Usually after an accident, the driving licence is cancelled, however, there is no way to check if the same driver is driving again or not especially, in private travels. Moreover, the travel company is never penalised for any such accidents. There must be constant and very strict monitoring of these vehicles,” noted Vinod K, chief functionary of Indian Federation of Road Safety.
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