Journey on local KSRTC buses scares travellers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Frequent brake failures and wheel separations from moving KSRTC local buses arise due to poor maintenance system followed by mechanics and drivers. In a latest, on Saturday, a bus with around 24 passengers had a miraculous escape after it lost brake at Pallipuram, rammed two vehicles before coming to halt.

The bus from Attingal depot had just dropped passengers at Mangalapuram when it lost control. It hit a mini truck and car before stopping after travelling around 300 metres.

Earlier in September, an army man was injured in a double-decker tyre burst at Airport Road. There have been at least two instances of wheels of KSRTC bus coming out of moving bus since February 2014.

As per officials, since most of the buses running on suburban routes are old ones ideally they have to go through proper weekly checks. However, either drivers or mechanics err by not rectifying the error in time.

“A driver who ends the journey of the day has to mark fault he notices in a log book. This doesn’t happen often and in an event of minor accidents, the driver who takes the bus next day will have to pay up,” said a driver attached to city depot.

“Mechanics, particularly those on night shifts, do not rectify all faults as many of them sleep after day's work they take up elsewhere. A ramp is an essential requirement to check the brake condition. However, Parassala depot and even certain high range depots in Idukki do not have ramps,” official added.