Recently in a serious accident, four college students travelling on the footboard of a State-owned Metropolitian Transport Corporation (MTC) bus in Chennai were crushed to death when a truck collided with the vehicle near the rear door.
Of course, footboard travelling is risky and dangerous. But what is more relevant here is the urgent need for adoption of the automatic door closing systems which has been made mandatory by the Government. The popular JnNURM scheme is in fact instrumental in bringing in new legislations with a view to improving the standard of city buses. Closed-door city buses introduced under the scheme marked a major shift from doorless vehicles plying on roads in most States. Here the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has proved a role model by insisting on running of city AC and ordinary buses with closed doors.
In fact, all the 15,000 JnNURM buses were fitted with automatic door closing systems. Though well-intentioned, implementation of the project was an utter failure. Most of the city buses were fitted with doors fabricated locally with a pneumatic system. The whole system collapsed within few months of its operation. Today these doors are generally seen hanging with no effort being made to set it right. The result is a growing number of accidents and heavy loss of life of property.
The problem here is two-fold. Firstly JnNURM which was aimed at improving urban infrastructure across the country, became almost a one-time bail-out package for the auto industry, which was reeling under severe recession during 2008-09. The industry has been for long expecting a second round of JnNURM funding. However, as of now, there is no plan for funding.
Second, the problem in execution of these large orders within a short time and at incredibly low cost has resulted in use of sub-standard components and solutions like the door closing systems. It is meaningless to make safety systems mandatory without ensuring their proper implementation. Of course there are several Indian and overseas companies that offer tried and tested solutions for the problem.
The provision of good quality automatic or twin-gliding doors in city buses will mark an important step towards travel safety. More steps are also necessary to ensure accident-free bus travel all over the country.