Team Herald
PANJIM: Three persons were injured when a Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) bus overturned and fell sideways into a roadside trench near Chimbel Junction on Friday morning. The injured passengers were shifted to Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), Bambolim.
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Four ambulances and two fire engines were rushed to the site. The bus, carrying eight passengers, was on its way to Panjim from Ponda when the accident happened, leading to a traffic snarl at the busy intersection.
Speaking to O Heraldo, Old Goa Station Fire Officer (SFO) R D Parab said, “We received a call at around 9.30 am. A team of seven personnel led by Fire Fighter Sunil Jalmi reached the spot immediately and hauled the bus out the trench using a crane.”
According to the bus driver, the brakes failed while the bus was on the slope close to the flyover construction site, making the bus fall sideways into the trench. However, the driver claimed that the bus had just been repaired and checked a day before.
The latest accident has brought the focus back on the poor safety standards of the ramshackle, state-run KTC buses. KTC Chairman Ulhas Tuenkar himself addressed this question in the light of the Chimbel accident on Friday. He told reporters: “We do not know when an accident can happen. We have workshops in the depots where buses are serviced. The buses are not given to drivers unless they are fit for driving. However, I will order an inquiry if lapses are found on the part of any employee.”
He admitted that there are some buses that have been in service for 15 years and need to be scrapped. “We have a shortage of at least 100 buses. We had scrapped 55 buses earlier and within two months, 25 more must be taken out of service. However, we have plans to buy 50 new diesel buses that will be used for inter-state services. We are also waiting to get around 500 electric buses.”
Tuenkar pointed out that 85 of the 150 e-buses that had been ordered from Hyderabad-based Olectra Company back in 2021 were yet to be delivered.
