In the wake of yesterday's ghastly accident in Mahaboobnagar district in which a Volvo bus travelling from Bangalore to Hyderabad was burnt that instantly took lives of 45 passengers who were charred beyond recognition by their relatives, the Transport Authorities have taken up raids on the travel agencies.
3 buses on Hyderabad- Bangalore highway were seized by the Authorities which were not having valid fitness certificates.
The buses belong to Kesineni, Dhanunjay, Orange, Sai Krishna, Moonlite, VRL and RP Travels were seized for not having permits or moving as Stage Carriers on Tourist permits.
Three buses were seized on the Mumbai-Hyderabad high way at three different places for the violation of the rules. 6 buses at Shahpur, 2 at Kotipalli in East Godavari, 8 in Vijayawada, 6 in Rangareddy and one bus at Nellore also were seized by the Authorities. And the raids are still going on.
This much is expected when the memory of the incident is fresh in the minds of the people. Critics say that the Authorities will cool down when the news gets old and obliterated from the minds of the people.
It is a good move by the State Transport Authorites to check the private buses that are engaged in the transport services carrying passengers. And also the result of so many seizures of the buses in one day is also indicative of the swift movement of the Authorities. But the number of buses seized also indicate that either they have been sleeping all the time or taking some tips for turning a blind eye to the compliance of the formalities as per the rules laid out for the safety of the passengers.
Another interesting thing is the lack of attempts to control the speeds beyond the speed limits laid out which is the real cause of the incident of bus burnt in Mahaboobnagar that initiated the movement in the Transport Department. Just seizing some buses may not serve the purpose totally. If the seizures are done for non compliance of the rules, it is only a paper work that is not complete. But the question remains to be answered is what about the measures to control excess of speed over the limits?
-SriJa
