DC Edit | Ensure Pvt Tour Buses Run Safely
The inhuman approach of the driver, as reflected in his attempt to flee even after hitting a biker, proved costly for the passengers. It would have remained just another hit-and-run accident, with the body of a biker or a pedestrian lying on the road, but the bike went underneath, got stuck near the fuel tank, and caught fire due to friction
Every life lost in road mishaps involving private travel buses is a crime perpetrated by greedy owners, reckless drivers hired by them, and an equally complicit officialdom. The burning of the Vemuri Kaveri Travels bus to ashes near Kurnool city in Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of Friday, resulting in the loss of more than 20 innocent lives, is no exception.
The inhuman approach of the driver, as reflected in his attempt to flee even after hitting a biker, proved costly for the passengers. It would have remained just another hit-and-run accident, with the body of a biker or a pedestrian lying on the road, but the bike went underneath, got stuck near the fuel tank, and caught fire due to friction.
Right from the registration of the bus with the lowest tax possible to refurbishing it using cheap and highly inflammable materials, to hiring under-trained or untrained drivers, besides poor compliance with safety norms — every rule is violated right under the nose, and in connivance with the officials concerned.
Owners of private buses register their vehicles in northeastern states or Union Territories, where the annual tax is less than the quarterly tax in many states, including Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They obtain an All-India Tour Permit, which is allowed only for contract carriages. Yet, they sell tickets to different individuals — in a brazen malpractice. Insurance companies exploit this illegality to manipulate compensation payouts in case of accidents.
Local officials find it convenient to leave compliance with safety norms to the respective state machinery and turn a blind eye for obvious reasons. Officials in the states where the buses are registered are often too willing to issue fitness certificates without even conducting inspections. It is high time the governments took stringent measures as suggested by countless inquiry commissions, rather than allowing their reports to gather dust until another road mishap occurs.
