The reactive India! After Kerala schoolbus accident, Kerala HC summons both departments
Mobilenews24x7 Bureau
Oct 7 : In India it has become chronic that we get into action mode once the damage is done. Like it happened in Kerala a day back. Nine people in a school bus lost their lives, including five children, now the transport wings got their acts together to know what was the cause behind such a huge tragedy.
As it appears, over speeding has emerged as a strongly possible reason which led to such a tragic accident.
Now the police or transport department has suddenly discovered, getting out of their slumber of willful ignorance that the buses used for ferrying school kids are ridden of Speed Governors, a necessary provision to keep the speed of such vehicles under control( 70 kmph).
Whereas, it was learnt that the said bus was racing at 92 kmph which is highly vulnerable looking at the occupants in there.
A day after nine people, including five schoolchildren, were killed in a road accident on the Thrissur-Palakkad highway, officials of both — the Motor Transport department and the Kerala Police — are on a high alert and have started a thorough inspection.
The ill-fated bus ferrying 42 school children and five teachers to Ooty on an excursion trip driven at a speed of 97.2 kms/hr (exceeding the permissible speed of 70 kms/hr) rammed into the rear of a KSRTC bus killing nine on Thursday.
And now the State Transport Minister Antony Raju said a detailed probe has begun by both the departments and the law will take its course.
Can those probes by the involved departments elicit any outcome and even if that happens, will that assure that the lives lost, including children, can come back.
Why such carriers used for students are not undergoing a fitness test beforehand. Whether it is speed check devices or other sensitive parts of the vehicles.
The bus driver was getting preliminary medical treatment when the police was, perhaps, dozing, and the culprit driver managed to abscond. Only he should be primarily responsible for the entire tragedy if it was the case of over speed driving.
But on Thursday late evening, he, along with the owner of the bus and the manager, was taken into police custody 150 kms away from the accident spot while heading to the state capital for legal advice.
This morning, Ashokan the DYSP heading the probe team, after detailed questioning of the driver said they are trying to get more information and he has been charged under IPC 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).
“His arrest has been recorded. We are trying to get information on what happened after the accident and also how it occurred. Over speeding is a cause, but we want to know other factors as well. We expect to get all the details shortly,” said Ashokan.
The probe will also look into if the driver was intoxicated.
The Kerala High Court has also taken up the case suo-motu and directed the top Transport officials to appear in person before it.
