Safety is the biggest challenge this year for Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC). And it is not going to be easy if the death of a woman, allegedly after being hit by a bus of the APSRTC (from which TSRTC was carved out) near Erragadda here on Monday is any indication.
S.R. Nagar Inspector S. Murali Krishna says the driver of the Garuda bus which fatally knocked down the woman walking on the road should have been more cautious.
“Though precise reasons are yet to be ascertained, prima facie evidence points the accusing finger at the bus driver,” he said.
The incident raises the crucial question of how safe these buses are. That was a matter of grave concern in 2018 as 86 lives were snuffed out in just three road accidents involving corporation buses.
Biggest tragedy
Most tragic of the three was a bus falling into a gorge while coming down a ghat road at Kondagattu in Jagtial district. Sixty four were killed in that accident, which many believe could have been averted if some precautions were taken.
The other two accidents — at Gajwel in Siddipet and Manakondur of Karimnagar — claimed a total of 22 lives. Investigators had no doubt about the role of the drivers in the two accidents and hence, invoked the section of law relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the drivers. Normally, rash and negligent act of the drivers is attributed to the accused in road accident death cases.
Admitting that Kondagattu accident damaged even their slogan of ‘safe journey with TSRTC’, its executive director M. Ravinder says multiple factors caused that gory crash. “We take care from the first step of recruiting driver to subjecting them to a three-month orientation course,” he explains.
Crash courses
Every month, drivers involved in accidents are identified and sent to crash courses. When a major accident is reported, en masse meetings of drivers are conducted at gates of the bus depots, he says.
Some erring drivers are pushing the lives of people into danger despite these measures, he observes. The corporation does not have any soft corner for such drivers.
“For example, though the corporation pays fines for traffic rule violations of drivers, the sum is later collected from the driver concerned,” he says.