CPI seminar for more safety measures on highways

November 5, 2013

By Express News Service – HYDERABAD

CPI state secretary K Narayana (right) speaking at an all-party meeting on ‘Road accidents and private bus operators’ negligence’ at the party office, Mqdoom Bhavan, in Hyderabad on Sunday | A RADHAKRISHNA

CPI state secretary K Narayana on Sunday said that though widening of roads has helped in cutting down time taken to reach different places, suitable safety measures to control accidents on highways is not taken. “If a vehicle breaks down, it is parked on the road as there is no other place on highways, because of this incidence of accidents is increasing,” said Narayana, speaking at an all party meeting organised by his party on ‘Road accident and private bus operators’ negligence’.The meeting organised by the CPI on Sunday had representatives of Communist party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M)) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) who discussed the measures that need to be taken to avoid bus incidents such as that of Volvo bus accident at Kothakota, Mahbubnagar.

Pointing out that blaming drivers for all the accidents will not help in finding actual reasons of accidents, Y Venkateswara Rao, state secretariat member, CPI (M) said, “It will not help in-depth analysis of the problem”. He suggested that the APSRTC should run its bus services in areas where there are good chances of generating income.

Family members of the victims who got burnt in the bus accident demanded that bodies of the victims should be handed over to them as soon as possible. “We immediately reached the accident spot and received the body of my brother Akshay Singh. But when we reached Jadcherla, we got a call from the police that the body should be taken to Osmania hospital. Till now we did not get back the body,” lamented Ashish, brother of Akshay Singh, a software engineer who lost his life in the bus accident.

K Narayana also suggested that apart from the bus operators, government should also provide compensation to victims of bus accidents and that in buses which travel long distances, drivers should not drive for more than four hours and that a traffic police van should regularly patrol highways.

Source-http://newindianexpress.com