BEST sets up 4-member panel to probe Kurla bus accident

Mumbai, Dec 10 (PTI) The civic-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking on Tuesday set up a four-member committee to investigate the bus accident in Kurla area here that claimed seven lives.

Among other things, it will probe aspects like was the driver aware about road safety, and was there any technical error in the bus, an official said on Tuesday.

An electric bus of the BEST hit several vehicles and pedestrians around 9.30 pm in the crowded Kurla (West) locality after the driver lost control, killing seven persons and injuring 42 others.

Its driver, Sanjay More (54), was arrested under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.

"The four-member committee will consisting of two officers each of engineering and operating departments of the BEST. They will study aspects like if the training given to the wet lease bus drivers is sufficient or not, what changes are expected in the training module, was the driver aware of road safety, how the behavioural science of the driver can be changed, and was there any technical error in the bus, among other things," BEST General Manager Anil Diggikar said.

The probe committee will be chaired by Chief Manager (Transport) Ramesh Madavi.

The committee will investigate if the operators are forcing the drivers to work for extra hours and take the necessary action, he said.

When asked if there was any issue of brakes in the bus, he said the BEST and Regional Transport Office (RTO) teams have been trying to find if there was any technical error in the bus.

"A detailed investigation is going on if the driver lost control over the bus or there was some technical issue with the bus," Diggikar, who has been heading the cash-strapped transport body since March 2024, said.

Refuting the claim that driver More was not given enough training before joining duty, Diggikar said that More was driving BEST's buses for the third term from December 1, as earlier he worked for private operators - MP Group and Hansa, but both discontinued the services of small-sized buses in the undertaking.

According to police, More told them during interrogation that he had started driving BEST's electric buses only since December 1, and prior to that he drove mini buses.

During his first stint in the BEST, More worked with the M P Group (the undertaking's private contractor firm) in November 2020, and after he joined Hansa, another bus operator, in September 2022, "When he joined for driving the electric Olectra bus, he was given the induction training," Diggikar said, adding that they have also called a meeting of all the bus operators about the improvements that need to be adopted in the maintenance of the buses and training of the drivers.

The BEST said that they provide 15 days of training at their Dindoshi-based driver training centre for those who fulfil the criteria given the employment with the operators.

The BEST would pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased and a separate committee has been formed to ensure that the victims' kin are given the payout in the next fortnight.

It said that it will also bear treatment expenses of the injured persons.

Diggikar said that a three-member committee comprising officers from legal, accounts, and audit departments has been set up to ensure that the relatives of the victims will get their claims within 15 days after they are filed in the accident claims tribunal.

Meanwhile, a delegation from the Bharatiya Janata Party met Diggikar demanding a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families of the deceased and between Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh for the injured.

The delegation also blamed the decision to hire buses on a wet lease model -- where a private contractor provides buses, drivers and also looks after maintenance -- between 2018 and 2021 for the accident, and called for its review. PTI KK KRK NP