Chhatrapur: A joint probe report pinned the blame on rash and speedy driving and negligence in maneuvering the curves as the reasons behind the bus accident that led to death of six persons and injured 42 persons at Durgaprasad on National Highway-157 at Kalinga ghati bordering Ganjam and Kandhamal districts, May 24.
The driver drove the vehicle at very high speed ignoring the curves on the ghati road which resulted in the mishap, the report submitted 12 days after the accident, said. The probe was conducted by a joint team comprising an expert and members of the Bhanjanagar Regional Transport Office.
The report said that the bus carrying tourists from West Bengal was on its way to Daringbadi in Kandhamal district. When the bus was on way to Visakhapatnam from Daringbadi, the driver lost control of vehicle and hit a roadside stone block and a utility pole and overturned.
The report suggested that driving the bus at great speed and ignoring sharp curves on the ghati road resulted in the mishap. Moreover, absence of any traffic signage, road markings and stud reflectors also contributed to the accident. These factors apart, crash barriers were also found in broken and dilapidated conditions, that also contributed to the mishap.
Several accidents have taken place prior to this mishap which has turned travelling on the ghati road a risky proposition. Commerce and Transport department principal secretary Bishnupada Sethi has also written to the authorities of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Works department and the Ganjam district collector asking them to put up these traffic systems in proper place on ghati roads, sensitive points and accident prone zones of the highway. He has also instructed the Works department to take up survey of ghati roads and accident prone zones and take remedial and preventive steps to save the life people in future.