COIMBATORE: A freak road accident revealed that the Coimbatore division of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) has been operating service to Kerala allegedly without a route permit.
The violation came to light when Kerala police stepped in to investigate after an auto rammed into a TNSTC bus near the ITI bus stop at Kanjikode. The TNSTC bus (TN 38 N 3136) involved in the accident belongs to the Ondipudur I bus depot of TNSTC Coimbatore division. The accident took place on April 30 when the bus was returning from Palakkad to Ukkadam.
A worker from TNSTC, on condition of anonymity, said, "An auto rammed into the rear of bus it was waiting to pick up passengers> Though the auto driver was at fault as he did not follow the 10-metre distancing norm, Kerala police booked the bus driver after they found out that it did not have route permit."
He added," The TNSTC administration failed to renew route permit for the bus because of the Covid - 19 spread. The depot manager should have renewed it by applying with Kerala Transport Department. Due to lack of route permit, Kerala Police seized the bus and it was released on May 7."
M Vasudevan, branch manager of Ondipudur depot, refuted the charge and said the bus was operated with route permit. "Due to holidays, we could not recover the bus after the accident," he said.
However, a TNSTC union member asserted that it was operated without permit.