26 hurt as KSRTC bus rams into Metro pillar

By Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: At least 26 people were injured after a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus carrying 45 passengers met with an accident near Kengeri traffic police station limits in Bengaluru early Monday. According to police, four passengers were critically injured and are currently undergoing treatment at a hospital in the city.

The incident took place around 1:30 am when the bus was on its way to the city from Madikeri. Alerted about the incident, the jurisdictional police visited the spot and inspected the injured victims before shifting them to a local hospital.

The police said that while trying to avoid a pothole, the bus driver allegedly lost control of the bus. “The bus first hit the four feet tall road divider and then rammed into the Namma Metro pillar number 546,” police said. He also added that due to the impact of the collision the chassis of the bus has been damaged.

Following the incident, Deputy Commissioner of Police, West, Dr Sanjeev M Patil said, “25 people received minor injuries and four were seriously injured in the accident. The KSRTC bus was coming from Madikeri and had 45 passengers on board,” he said. Later a report from KSRTC clarified that 26 people have been injured in the incident. As per the report, 12 victims were shifted to Supra hospital in Kengeri; 6 were shifted to Pinnacle hospital on Mysuru Road and 8 were shifted to Victoria hospital in the city.

A case of negligent and rash driving has been registered against the bus driver.

Lack of sign boards on Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway
It has been observed that the Bengaluru–Mysuru highway (NH-275) which is currently undergoing transformation has no sign boards to warn motorists about diversions at some places.

Adil Raza, a Mysuru-based businessman said, “Initially the work started on this highway with neatly laid deviations and bright reflective stickers to caution the motorists. But during my recent drive I observed there are no sign boards at some places which could be very dangerous for the people driving on this road,” he said.

All road works, no matter how small, must be properly signed. Contractors and supervising engineers have an important responsibility to make sure that the road works are carried out safely without making it risky for the motorist. However, the authorities from National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) were unavailable to comment on this.

A regular commuter from Bengaluru to Ramanagara, Deepak Kumar said that a similar accident near Ramanagara was averted last week due to the bus driver’s alertness. “The bus driver mistakenly entered the wrong lane which was under construction and was barricaded after a few metres. He had to reverse the bus and then come back to the correct lane,” the passenger said. “Fortunately he was not speeding, or he could have hit the concrete wall,” he added.

According to the Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, the 117 km long BengaluruMysuru expressway is being developed at the cost of Rs 8,350 crore. “The construction work is nearing completion and will be over by October 2022,” he had said.