CHENNAI: The eight deceased employees of the state transport corporation who were crushed to death after the roof of the Porayur bus stand crashed had two things in common — to help the passengers reach their native places on time to celebrate Deepavali and to sacrifice their celebrations due to the recent circular by the state department insisting the crew not to take leave from October 15-20.
As the availability of crew is limited, the transport minister announced recently that no driver or conductor can take a break from work during the festival operations. That is the reason; about 45 people were sleeping in the room during the disaster. If not, half of them would have gone home and at least a couple of people of the eight transport workers would have been alive, disclosed state transport employees. This unveils the negligence of the department each year by putting them in strenuous situations and failing to maintain the structures that are over four decades old.
Sources from the department said the building was over 70 years old and repeated appeals were made to repair the cracks. Also, as many people would not have lost their lives if there were enough crew to work in shifts. The lack of rest for the crew has claimed numerous lives in the past. “A driver plying interstate who continually travels for at least 36 hours is forced to take another trip to the same day in the evening. Even a two-second nap would claim the lives of many and the department’s “adventurous marketing move” fails to understand this point. Each year, this is becoming a major menace,” said a department source.
He further added that the death, which was waiting to happen on the roads happened at the depot. The current situation of the drivers who have been working continuously for five days might lead to many such deaths in the future, of both the drivers and the public.
