PANJIM: Following Aldona bus tragedy, the transport department has now decided to set fix criteria to determine lifespan of buses considering their physical condition. The decision on this matter would be taken only after new government is inducted.
The department since Tuesday has begun an extensive drive inspecting all the passenger buses to check their fitness. After issuing 43 challans on the very first day, 63
more challans were issued on Wednesday.
Director Transport Arun Desai said that in last two days total 106 challans have been issued to private bus owners.
The challans were issued due to malfunctioning of hand brakes and steering wheels, no proper emergency doors and worn out tyres.
Surprisingly, not a single bus owned by Kadamba Transport Corporation has been challaned by the department.
When asked, Desai said that the department is contemplating the possibility of having a policy decision over forming specific criteria to determine life span of buses. However, the decision would be taken after formation of new government.
“The time has come, when we need to specify a lifespan of a bus to reduce the number of accidents. Guidelines could be put in place directing the bus owners to replace their buses after certain period, for which required subsides could be also provided,” Desai said.
A 15-year old bus plunged into the river at Aldona killing six commuters including four school girls, last week. Since then, private bus owners have been demanding that restricted life span be determined for buses.
