Jalpaiguri. Six people lost their lives, including an innocent child, in a bus accident near Maynaguri in the district. However, the Chief Minister of the state has announced financial assistance for the families of the deceased. The accident occurred at a time when preparations were going on to present the development roadmap in the state. In such a situation, this accident raises many questions – especially regarding passenger safety and transportation system. All the deceased passengers were traveling in a North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) bus. After every accident, an investigation is announced, which calms the public anger for some time.
In this case also, the NBSTC officials present at the spot immediately after the accident gave a clean chit to the driver, which raises doubts. Because most of the passengers have accused the driver of negligence. Some say that the driver was not completely healthy, while some say that the high speed of the bus was the reason for the accident.
According to the hospitalized passengers, they requested the driver several times to reduce the speed, even stopped the bus and advised him to rest, but he did not listen to anyone. However, after being arrested by the police, the driver declared himself innocent and said that there was a technical fault in the bus.
The conductor says that the bus went out of control due to tire burst. If the talk of technical fault is true, then questions also arise on the responsibility of NBSTC. It is being told that the accident bus was only two years old. In such a situation, it is natural to raise questions regarding his care and fitness.
Recently, Minister of State for Transport Anandamoy Burman has announced that now drivers will be physically and mentally tested before driving the buses. But the question is also whether NBSTC has enough resources and arrangements to regularly check such a large number of drivers?
Actually, transport corporations are already facing financial crisis and lack of resources. The number of buses is limited, there is not enough staff for maintenance and there is a shortage at the administrative level as well. Allegations of irregularities and corruption in the depot have also been coming up from time to time. Amidst all these problems, passenger safety often takes a back seat.
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