Panel holds bus driver responsible for PNBS mishap in Vijayawada
VIJAYAWADA: The three-member Joint Enquiry Committee constituted to probe into the mishap at the Pandit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS) in Vijayawada has reported that there were no technical glitches in the bus and that it was fit to run.
“The panel held the driver responsible for the mishap and so it was decided to place him under suspension and also initiate stringent disciplinary action against him,” the district public transport officer of APSRTC-Vijayawada said in a press release issued on Tuesday.
Assistant manager of Auto Nagar bus depot VV Lakshmi was also placed under suspension for not supervising the driver’s duties.
Departmental action will be initiated against Auto Nagar depot manager Praveen Kumar for “failing to supervise affairs at the depot”, the statement read.
Three people, including a 10-month-old boy, were killed after the Guntur-bound metro luxury AC bus belonging to Auto Nagar Depot accidentally crashed into platform 12 at the PNBS in Vijayawada on Monday morning. Subsequently, the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) constituted the Joint Enquiry Committee to identify the cause of the mishap.
The panel, comprising experts from the transport department and RTC, looked into the technical aspects, fitness of the vehicle, experience of the bus driver and other issues as part of their investigation, sources said.
Driver held responsible for accident at PNBS
It was concluded that the bus was fit to run and held the driver responsible for the accident. The 61-year-old driver, V Prakasam, reportedly used to drive super luxury buses between Vijayawada and Bengaluru. However, as he had recovered from an illness recently, he was asked to run short-distance AC bus services between Vijayawada and Guntur.
According to sources, Prakasam was reportedly inexperienced in driving an automatic-gear vehicle and he allegedly engaged the first gear instead of reverse gear.