Highways, not buses to blame for infernos: State to Centre

Bangalore: The two most recent incidents of buses catching fire belonging to Jabbar Travels and National Travels, have opened the state government’s eyes to the condition of national highways within the state’s borders.

The state transport department has written a letter to the Union road transport department pointing out that unscientific road design is causing accidents in the state.

According to the transport commissioner, Amarnarayan, national highways are badly designed.  “In both bus accidents it is suspected that unscientific road culverts on the highways caused the accidents, as the buses hit the culverts first (before bursting into flames). After these incidents, we have received several complaints from bus owners about the unscientific design of national highways. We found some truth in the complaints and have brought the issue to the notice of the Union government,” he said.

Amarnarayan says he has also sought an immediate meeting of the road safety council. “We want to raise several issues related to our roads. The meeting may be convened in the next 15-20 days.”

Necessary action: A senior official in the transport department listed some of the factors that compromise road safety: “Never ending work after the expiry of the time given in the tender, unscientific culverts, dividers, work in patches — these are the few common features of the national highways passing through the state. Things are no different in Andhra Pradesh. Unscientific road design is one of the major reasons for increasing number of accidents on national highways. It is high time we raise the issue at the highest level.”

Bus operators endorse this view. The owner of a logistics company said there are lots of complaints about national highways in the state.

“In both the fire mishap incidents the buses first hit the culverts. We want National Highway Authority of India to redesign the roads to make them safer for long and speedy journeys,” he said.