Bus tragedy near Vellore

Jun 8, 2011 In one of the most gruesome bus tragedies in Tamil Nadu, 23 people were killed when a Pollachi-bound private bus caught fire after it overturned at Avalur on the Chennai-Bangalore national highway late on Tuesday night. A few images from the accident spo

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Last week on 2.6.2011, I went to Devakottai by KPN travels. An A.C. sleeper to Karaikudi was not in order and its passengers were stranded at midnight near Trichy. It was delayed by 3 hours and we were made to travel on the floor of another ordinary bus to Devakottai. This Bus came from Bangalore with just one driver without cleaner, one head light and with a defective steering with no right turn. Just imagine the fate of the passengers who travelled on a rainy day. from: kiran Posted on: Jun 8, 2011 at 13:35 IST Government ordered an enquiry into this incident to know the cause for this incident. But unfortunately when Jaylalitha comes to power this kind of incident happens. In her previous regime one school burnt and several children burned in that fire accident. Government should more generous toward deceased family by providing jobs if they have lost bread winner and financial assistance to their medical expenses of those alive. from: Raghavendra R Pawar Posted on: Jun 8, 2011 at 14:17 IST I travel regulary on the toll roads. Though they have been widened and the surface is very good, they are still very dangerous becase the heavily loaded trucks, buses, particularly the government buses drive on the right edge of the road and you are forced to overtake them from the left. Also as an anti-glare drive they have planted plants on the medians which is a good thing but you will suddenly find two wheelers crossing the road from behind these bushes near villages and towns. Because of these reasons it is a nighmare to ride/drive on these roads. The basic reason for such tragedies repeating is we do not care for our own safety and drive as we like on highways ignoring personal safety and endangering others' lives. from: T Loknath

Posted on: Jun 8, 2011 at 15:04 IST The negligence of the Administration due to chronic corruption (irrespective of political affiliation)prevailing also in the Road Transport Department is the root cause for allowing old fashioned and fully-depreciated vehicles to ply on the road. The Fitness Certificate (F.C) procedure adopted by the department concerned is only an eye-wash to earn illicit money through the route of corruption. They never used to apply any valid procedure to check and ensure the health and pliability of the vehicle so that the passengers lives could have been safe guarded. But alas ! The innocent lives have been charred beyond recognition due to chronic corruption prevailing in India ! from: Haja Abu Bucker Posted on: Jun 8, 2011 at 17:26 IST I traveled once in a KPN semi-sleeper AC bus, where the AC vent was dripping water all over me. One can imagine short circuits due to the water causing fires (just speculating). One also wonders how everyone on the bus could have asphyxiated, as there is an emergency window which can be broken, on both sides. The horror story called Indian road traffic, negligence by the bus authorities and ignorance about safety procedures on the part of the general public are likely the root cause of this tragedy. I shudder to think this might have happened even to me. It is sad that we Indians need a tragedy to jolt us out of complacency. We should emulate the western nations when it comes to public and personal safety. Just because we have so many more lives in India, it doesn't make any of them cheaper than one's own. from: Prithiv Prasad Posted on: Jun 8, 2011 at 20:08 IST When will the Patrol Police ensure road safety? They must see that no vehicles are parked on the left side of the road. Surprises on the Chennai Bangalore NH road are nothing new. Last week when I traveled I could see a big bush planted in centre of the road and later got to notice that a mini lorry was stranded on the centre of road due to break down. what action was taken by the local traffic and patrol police. Good for nothing Police department as a whole! from: balaji dasarathan Posted on: Jun 8, 2011 at 20:18 IST There we go doling money to kith and kin of a disaster that should not have happened in the first place. 23*1 lakh ~ quarter crore. Govt spends almost 2-3 crores every month in such cases. Tax money that should have been spent on driver training, adding more people for licensing purposes, creating road rules and regulations catalogues, conducting proper tests for licensing etc. The situation for road rules and traffic rules are so pathetic, that even a person like me (who is absolutely illiterate when it comes to academic knowledge of the subject) can make a change if I were given the chance to head the so-called department. Absolutely stereotype working of the government. Forget about the root cause, be reactive every where possible. And oh, dont forget to give pamphlets and flowers to people driving without helmets instead of strictly enforcing

fines and other effective forms of punishment. Apaprently Karunanidhi asked the cops not to 'harass' motorists in the name of punishment it seems. What a leader! from: Varun Posted on: Jun 8, 2011 at 20:37 IST Agree with all the comments, Pls join the below FB campaigns and help increase awareness on road safety. drivesafekerala@groups.facebook.com India road safety campaign on Facebook. from: Shafi Posted on: Jun 9, 2011 at 03:37 IST Driving lisences should be given only after severe test,purticularly to the truck and bus drivers.The drivers flouting the rules should be punished and their driving licences be cancelled if they repeat the mistakes. from: R.Mohan Posted on: Jun 9, 2011 at 05:37 IST entire Tamil Nadu assembly is discussing about sri lankan issue..Not bothering to solve the issues of tamil nadu.. June 6th 2011 Rains threw Chennai out of gear. People were wondering whether there is any government running in Tamil nadu. from: Rajdeep Posted on: Jun 9, 2011 at 12:46 IST It is realy a very sad for loosing such innocent people in this accident. Suitable safety precautions need to educated to all the drivers who use such highways. On my recent journey on NH45 I have seen notice boards which indicate heavy vehicle drivers must proceed on the left side of road to allow speeding vehicle to pass by them safely. However nobody is following such rule , we can often see some slow moving vehicle moving at the centre and in another place we can see at right extreme and so on. I think these are main reason for such accidents. But the best proverb is 'Drive safely and Reach safely'. from: Balaji .V Posted on: Jun 9, 2011 at 15:13 IST Going by reports, this tragedy could have been avoided, if the lorries the bus was trying to overtake had been in the left lane instead of the right, forcing the bus to overtake on the left(as we all know, one should always 'keep left'...a common-sense rule, not hugely technical). Will the lorry drivers be punished? I think not. Indian drivers are not ready for multi-lane expressways involving lane-discipline. The people to blame are the Licencing authorities. No one else. They should be convicted for manslaughter...342 people (roughly one jumbo jet-load) of people die on our roads EVERY DAY. We have a September 11-scale tragedy happening EVERY DAY!

from: Prithiv Prasad Posted on: Jun 9, 2011 at 16:47 IST I was not surprised by this accident, seeing the way KPN treats the safety of its passengers providing a third class service. A month ago, I booked a KPN ticket from Bangalore to Nagapatinam and was asked to board at wilson garden by 8.00pm. Though we reach the venue by 7.30pm no body has clue when the bus will come and where should we wait. Around 8.30pm one bus came and we are asked to go in that bus to Bomanahalli to take the bus for Nagapattinam. This so called shuttle bus just dumped us at the middle of the road (literally) and forced passengers to cross through the divider to take another bus waiting there. Parents with kids and senior citizens suffered to cross the highway traffic. Then the driver refused to open the storage area beneath saying that he does not have the key. Finally the bus started at 9.30pm and all passenger are forced to keep their luggages with them in the sleeper coach. At least at 5 locations the KPN bus might have stopped for refreshments apart from stopping at KPN office in Trichy and Tanjore to download the parcels at storage area. (we are also asked to buy a sepearte ticket for a carton box that we had,but cannot put in storage area). The best part is at Nagapatinam we were dropped on the by-pass road saying that the bus will not go into the city. The driver claimed that the guys who issue ticket at Bangalore dont know about Nagapattinam and i should have asked the driver before I boarded. I just cursed myself for taking KPN and I am sure this was my last trip with them. Their callous attitude makes to feel as if they are transporting us for FREE between cities. from: Gireraj Posted on: Jun 13, 2011 at 23:46 IST