Few bus operators follow safety norms in Bihar

PATNA: The Ferozabad bus accident, in which 14 people were killed on Wednesday night, raised questions about the safety norms being followed by bus operators in Bihar. Most of the victims were from Bihar as the bus was coming from Delhi to Motihari in East Champaran when it met with an accident on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway.
Though state transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said on Thursday that the permits of those buses not following safety norms will be cancelled, most of the private interstate buses under Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) do not have even the emergency gates. “We are going to launch awareness drive for bus drivers in association with Aurangabad’s Institute of Driving Training and Traffic Research (IDTR),” Agarwal said and added: “We will also give Rs250 honorarium to each bus driver and food packets during training about safety measures and precautions.”
Buses, run by the private operators mostly run without following safety measures; like they don’t keep hammer near windshield, fire extinguisher and medical kit. However, some drivers claimed their buses have facilities like CCTV cameras, speed governor, LCD screens and Wi-Fi.
Jhameli Singh, the cleaner of a private bus which plies on Patna-Purnia route, told this newspaper that his bus has one emergency gate “but we do not know how to open it. This has to be done by the engineers. We do not need firs-aid kit and fire extinguisher in our bus as people carry their own stuff which they need”.
Ram Kalraj, a bus driver at Mithapur bus stand, said there is no emergency gate in his double-decker bus for Gorakhpur. “There is no space for emergency gate. People can break the windscreen in case of emergency. We have one hammer that I keep under my seat,” he said and added: “If we put one hammer near every window, passengers will certainly break the glass and it would cost Rs10,000 to replace it. We have fire extinguisher, medical kit and other safety tools.”
Gopal Sharan, an interstate bus driver, said, “I keep the emergency gate locked because passengers often open it. It causes inconvenience to the cleaner.”
Sunil Kumar Singh, another interstate bus driver, said they have all the facilities in their buses except the emergency gate and fire extinguisher. “We had a fire extinguisher which was removed as we didn’t know how to use it,” he said.
Jeevan Kumar, a passenger travelling to Ranchi, said the bus drivers and cleaners need to be sensitized about such accidents. “It is the responsibility of the state government to ensure that those who get bus permits follow the safety norms,” he said.