THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/ Kochi/Kozhikode
Though the Motor Vehicles Department has often warned private buses against violation of the provisions of the MVD Act and even conducted drives to check violators, many of the vehicles continue to defy the rules, putting commuters at great risk.
Many private buses still use ropes to tie doors and ply with faulty or no locking mechanism at all. Though the MVD conducted an intensive drive in August to check such violations, things seems to have come back to square one.
DC takes a look at the problem through the eyes of experts.
“The lack of a traffic culture on the part of the bus crew as well as general public is the bane. Ideally the doors in the bus should be maintained properly. The new pneumatic door system controlled by the driver is a good one. But it will cost more and the public will have to bear the additional expense. In any case, the thrust should be on public safety. Another problem is the rude and irresponsible behaviour of many cleaners,’’ said Calicut Chamber of Commerce former president, P T S Unni.
According to Alex Paul, former Joint Transport Commissioner, in view of the dangers posed by existing doors of transport buses, proposals had been submitted to install sliding doors in all long distance buses. However, the rules regarding this had not yet been framed, he added.
“As of now, the rules only prescribe that all transport buses should have proper shutters. Ropes and rubber belts are often used by the buses for their convenience,” he said.
Dijo Kappan, Managing Trustee, Centre for Consumer Education, said it was difficult to attach the new pneumatic doors to the old buses, but the authorities should enforce the old type of doors in old buses. “It is true that several bus owners tie up loose doors in a slipshod manner using ropes. The cleaner bangs the door at each stop causing huge inconvenience to commuters and even people at bus stops. Such doors pose serious danger to the safety of commuters and even people on the road,” he added.
The leading consumer activist said that pneumatic doors could save money for bus owners since the number of cleaners could be cut down. Pneumatic doors open inwards while the old doors open outwards and pose a serious threat to commuters as well as pedestrians.
“Penumatic doors can reduce the competition between the private buses as it would not be easy for the cleaners to attract commuters into running vehicles. But one good thing is that all new buses now have pneumatic doors,” he added.
Apart from doors, the occasional MVD drive also checked violations like non-wearing of uniform, name badge, tampering with speed governors, unscientific construction of stands for cleaners in some buses which cause inconvenience to the public, declining to leave reserved seats for women, disabled and senior citizens, failure to issue proper tickets to passengers, not halting of buses at the bus bay and plying without mandatory records and first-aid.
