MARGAO: A pedestrian died due to an accident at the KTC bus stand on Monday evening. The woman, Rashmi Kerkar, 39 years and a resident of Fatorda, was hit by a bus named Sai Laxmi, which was exiting the bus stand. She died on the way to the hospital.
The driver Sudhir Naik has been booked for rash and negligent driving under section 279, 304 A of IPC and section 134 A and B of Motor Vehicles Act for not providing the victim with medical attention.
Incidentally, this the second accident that has occurred in the bus stand in the last 7 days. On 13th of December, a Maruti Swift and a Kadamba bus collided at the exit.
The cause of the accidents is the lack of personnel manning the traffic inside the bus stand to ensure that buses follow traffic rules. For example, city buses and other local buses park at the mouth of the narrow exit while soliciting customers. Often, the bus is parked partially on the outer lane of the main road in front of the bus stand. This leaves barely enough space for another bus to exit the bus stand. Any vehicle that exits the bus stand has to drive around the wrongly parked city bus and onto to the inner lane which is used by speeding vehicles. The risk of accidents at the junction is very high. In case there is an accident, the city bus who is the cause of the accident, goes scot free.
At the entrance of the bus stand, a similar situation exists. Buses entering the KTC bus stand park at the entrance of the bus stand and offload passengers. Officer in KTC informed that buses are not allowed to park and offload along the road. They have to drive inside the bus stand and offload passengers in front of the bus shed. “KTC buses stop near the depot gate since they are parked inside the depot but the spot is used by private buses.”, said the officer. He informed that the entrance road of the bus stand is designated as one way but cars, buses and even rickshaws drive on the wrong direction in order to exit bus stand thus posing a risk to buses entering the bus stand.
“There is no board showing the mandatory speed limit. There is no one to manage the traffic and parking inside the bus stand. Its become a free for all“, says Alan Fernandes, a daily commuter. Even the KTC official admitted that he was nearly knocked down by a bus while crossing the road. The officers admitted that there is no proper management in KTC. The manager of the bus stand was not available for comment.
