Telangana: Short running time, infra woes driving accidents by RTC buses

Hyderabad: Amid growing incidence of accidents involving Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) buses — two cases were reported in the last 10 days — official records show 480 RTC bus drivers were sacked in last three years for being involved in fatal accidents. During this period, RTC registered 1,742 accidents, including major, minor and fatal incidents.

Drivers attribute this to a host of factors including bad roads, poor condition of buses, commuters not following traffic rules and unrealistic ‘running time’ targets. As per the rulebook, they need to cover three km in one minute in the city. “For instance, we get an average time of 20 minutes to drive from Abids to Secunderabad. But it often takes more than 35 minutes because of heavy traffic. As a result, we drive at high speed, overtake vehicles and even stop for less than half a minute at many stops,” said a driver who was involved in a major accident last year.
Regular overshooting of running time, drivers say, leads to a poor record. “If this happens multiple times and a driver has other irregularities — like reporting late to work — it can lead to strict action like putting it down on record. This can work against them in case of a major accident,” said a depot manager. That the existing running time clause has become outdated — it was formulated in 2015 — is acknowledged by V C Sajjanar, MD, TSRTC. “We are now conducting a scientific study to analyse what the ideal running time should be. Guidelines have been given to depots to not rush drivers and ensure that accidents do not occur due to the drivers’ fault,” he said, adding, “Now that the city has expanded and many places have become crowded, we have to revise running time.”
Another concern drivers air is poor condition of buses. “Around 70% of vehicles are not fit to ply as they have reached scrapping condition,” said M Nageshwar Rao, trade union leader and former RTC union leader. He added: “The cause for accidents is often a combination of various things — state of buses, road condition, over speeding, deviation by driver. When we compare accidents recorded by various road transport corporations, TSRTC has a much lesser number. It is slightly high in twin cities.”