LUCKNOW: Post -Yamuna Expressway bus tragedy in which 29 people died on Monday morning, UP CM Yogi Adityanath has issued directives to the surface transport department while transport minister Swatantra Deo Singh has prescribed 'Yoga' for long route drivers.
Adityanath on Thursday directed the transport department to ensure medical check-up of all the drivers and test through breath analyzer before embarking on the journey and also at the time of reaching the destination. The CM also asked the transport officers to ensure implementation of IIT-Delhi's recommendations on road safety.
Sending across a stern message, the CM said that the officers concerned could not wash their hand of their responsibilities by shifting the blame of mishaps merely on drivers only. He instructed them to depute two drivers for a journey of 400 km or more. CM Yogi was presiding over a special meeting on road safety on Thursday vis-a-vis Monday mishap.
Meanwhile, the UP Transport department came up with a string of precautionary measures, including teaching ‘Vajrasana’ to the drivers on long-distance journeys so that they could overcome fatigue and remain alert.
According to UP Transport minister Swatantra Deo Singh, apart from other corrective and precautionary measures, the drivers would be instructed to take at least half-an-hour’s break at roadside eateries and perform ‘Vajrasana’ (in which one sits with knees bent inside) to relax. It will beat their fatigue and
exhaustion, which were the major reasons behind accidents, said the minister.
While the CM told the minister and officials concerned that no slackness would be tolerated as human life was precious, he took the JP Infratek representatives to task in the meeting. “You can’t ignore the security concerns of the passengers. If you are collecting the toll fee, proper security and safety arrangements of the passengers is also your responsibility. The government can’t ignore your laxity on this account,” said a seemingly miffed CM asking the private players manning Yamuna Expressway to implement IIT Delhi’s 13 recommendations for passenger safety.
He also asked the officials of Yamuna Expressway Authority to ensure proper compliance of safety guidelines by the agencies manning the expressway or else take stern action against them. The CM has asked transport department officials to prepare and implement a new plan to make the expressways accident free.
However, the three-member committee, constituted by CM Yogi to probe the cause of Monday’s accident held the driver, who died in the accident, responsible for the tragedy. As per sources, the most likely reason for the accident could be either over-speeding or the driver not being familiar with the route and that he dozed off in wee hours. Even the GPS device on the bus was out of order, said the report.