Another TSRTC bus tragedy averted

Hyderabad: A second bus accident, within a week, was reported in the state on Sunday, caused mainly by poor maintenance.

A TSRTC Express bus belonging to the Yadadri depot packed with over 105 passengers swerved into agricultural fields adjacent to the road near Nagarkurnool after its front wheels came off. More than 15 passengers who were sitting on top of the bus fell down and were injured.

The passengers included students heading for Sunday’s test to recruit village revenue officers. Last week, a bus having maintenance issues fell off a ghat road killing 57 passengers at Kondagattu.

In Sunday’s incident, the driver’s quick action prevented casualties. A highly placed source said, “The incident occurred mainly due to overloading of passengers. There were people sitting even on the roof of the bus. Due to the weight, both the front tyres of the bus were dismantled and got stuck in the rear tyres. The driver was smart and diverted the bus into the fields and prevented it from overturning.”

Elsewhere, two persons were killed when a RTC bus hit their two-wheeler. In the last 10 days, there have been four incidents involving RTC buses and two of them could be traced to maintenance issues. Mr Lakshma Reddy, a retired road transport officer, said RTC used to run its buses for six to eight years which had gone up to 15 years now. The new buses are sent on long distances routes while the older buses are deployed on less important destinations. 

The bad roads in rural areas deteriorates the condition of the buses further, eventually leading to accidents.

He added, “These old buses are also being overcrowded due to lack of sufficient number of bus services. There are many problems regarding the buses which needs the immediate attention.”