Sunday, Sep 08, 2013
Thiruvananthapuram: The decision of transport authorities in Kerala to impose speed restrictions for buses following a tragic bus crash that took the lives of over a dozen people in Malappuram district has prompted the private bus operators in the state to go on strike. In a meeting of private bus operators held at Kochi today (Sunday) it was decided to stop services from Monday in protest against the authorities’ move.
Following the bus crash in Malappuram on Friday, road transport authorities had conducted statewide searches on buses and found that many of the buses had not installed speed-governors that restrict the maximum speed of buses. Following the inspection, the route permits of dozens of buses were cancelled.
However, private bus owners have questioned the general thinking that it is the speed of buses that is causing accidents. Instead they have called for better roads as well as increased time durations for operating their scheduled routes. Private bus operators are also sore that the authorities are primarily targeting private buses, and not the state-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses.
The road transport authorities, however, have decided not to heed the protests of private bus owners and go ahead with inspections. If private buses go off the roads as threatened by the private bus operators, the life of the common man will be badly hit during the Onam season which has already arrived in the state.
Chances for talks with the government may also be bleak if the road transport authorities go ahead with their inspections.
Strictures against buses have happened in the past, too, in the backdrop of major road accidents. The latest round of inspections is apparently triggered by the bus mishap in Malappuram on Friday which took 13 lives on the spot. Besides the order to install speed governors in buses other official directives have also gone unheeded in the state. The insistence on use of helmets and seat belts are widely ignored across the state even a decade after the state authorities first began insisting on their use.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Friday’s bus accident in Perinthalmanna in Malappuram district rose to 14 when one of those injured in the accident died in hospital today. The deceased was identified as Kizhakkekara Ramachandran, a native of Eranthode.
By Akhel Mathew Correspondent
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