The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Temporary measures won’t curb the menace

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Friday, Jul 11, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Temporary measures won’t curb the menace

Anand Haridas

Rash driving by private bus drivers continues in city

KOCHI: Despite private buses in Kochi continues to kill and maim people, there seems to be no solution in sight.

With the reckless driving by private buses killing one more last week, the City Police have swung into action. During the last four days, more than 40 buses were seized on various charges ranging from overtaking along the left side, rash driving and obstructing free traffic flow. From Tuesday onwards, plainclothesmen were deployed as bus employees kept looking out for uniformed personnel.

All these had been tried out earlier and once the initial enthusiasm waned, racing resumed on roads. What the city needs is a lasting solution for the menace and that is still evading. “We have been demanding the Associations to take off the collection batta for drivers since this is the main reason for reckless driving. If the drivers are given a fixed salary, irrespective of daily collection, rash driving will be reduced considerably,” said Manoj Abraham, City Police Commissioner.

Another reason for rash driving is that buses are allowed to switch off the engine and wait for collecting passengers at stops in busy junctions. “At least 10 new buses are allowed to do this every month at the Regional Transport Authority board and Regional Transport Officer’s time conferences,” said P.K. Nandanan, general secretary of Bus Transport Association of Kerala. Besides causing traffic snarl-ups, this situation leads to time loss for other buses and in turn leads to racing as buses speed up to make up for the time lost. This is something that officials of Private Bus Operators’ Association (PBOA) also agree with.

“The present enforcement drive is only a farce, with lower level officials using the situation to strike a bargain with workers,” said M.B. Satyan, general secretary of the district unit of PBOA. He claimed that the Association took the initiative to control over-speeding by setting up punching cabins and distributing punching cards. But the police did not support the drive. PBOA then tried to run the punching system by employing private security personnel. Soon it was found that the security personnel manning the cabin were punching the cards, while buses went their way.

“Now the police have installed digital punching system. Even though all bus operators were asked to give Rs.150 for two cards, nothing has happened during the last six months,” Mr. Satyan said.

Another issue that the Association highlighted was the absence of scientific planning in finalising the timings for buses. Buses from side roads join the main roads together, and begin racing to reach the same destination, it said.

As of now, there has been no cohesive action to control rash driving and the stalemate is likely to continue. PBOA has even mooted ideas like operating the buses along the left track, especially on the busy Palarivattom-Pallimmukku stretch. This is because at the present pace, there is no way buses can meet the time schedule, said Vijayendran, joint secretary of the Association.

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