nagpur :- Train your drivers: Traffic dept tells Starbus operator

A week after the ghastly Maharajbagh mishap, deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Sahebrao Patil has warned Starbus operator and NMC's Nagpur Mahanagar Parivahan that drivers will have to be given proper training before they can ply buses.

The traffic police department has woken up from slumber after the incident when a Starbus rammed into stationary vehicles at the Maharajbagh signal which resulted in two innocents being killed and a few others being injured. The DCP has issued instructions to Starbus manager Mahesh Kandalkar to keep one of its buses as spare for training drivers. He also wants special workshops on safety to be conducted for the drivers. Kandalkar has said that he will follow Patil's suggestions.

Patil said that Starbuses must set an example in safe driving. "Instead, they regularly violate rules," he said. "Untrained drivers, an explosion in the number of private vehicles and overcrowded buses have affected the quality of driving in the city."

The DCP also stressed the need for conducting regular health checkup camps, especially for the eye, for Starbus drivers.

According to statistics, there have been 55 accidents involving Starbuses in the last two years. In 2008, Starbuses had a hand in 22 mishaps including one fatal, six serious and 15 minor ones. Till October 31 this year, the count is 33 (12, 8, 13).

The most common violation, almost 60%, is jumping of traffic signals and wrong parking. Other violations include overloading and lane cutting.

A senior traffic police officer said that many violations go unrecorded due to manpower crunch in the traffic police department. He added that the operator lays more emphasis on collection than safety.

According to Starbus sources, there is immense pressure on the drivers to finish a trip on time. "Hence, they are forced to break traffic rules," he said. There are around 640 drivers who are engaged in driving 432 buses.

A bus driver, requesting anonymity, said that buses have been upgraded the problem of bus stops remains unsolved. "A bus stop is arbitrarily created without taking into account the increase in travel time," said the driver.

Mahesh Morone, the NMPL CEO, said that some drivers "do not obey signals". "I have asked the operator to put serial offenders through a training programme," he added.