Less than a month after a BMTC bus screeched to halt as its wheel came off, another such incident has occurred in Bengaluru, this time on Mysuru road.
Fortunately, the mishap did not result in any loss of lives.
According to Deccan Herald, the incident occurred around 8:30am on Monday near Mylasandra. The Route no 222 bus was plying from Kengeri to KR Market when the left wheel of the bus came off forcing the bus to stop suddenly.
Locals said had this incident occurred on the opposite side of the road, it could have proved to be fatal.
“The bus would have plunged into the Vrishabhavathi drain as the retaining wall will collapse with the lightest impact,” DH quoted people on the spot saying.
When the last incident occurred, the BMTC came under scrutiny for lack of maintenance measures. However, nothing has changed since then, sources within the BMTC told the newspaper.
“There are many buses that are more than eight years old. Such vehicles need extra care and maintenance. But officials take their own time to phase them out and induct new ones, though the state government has sanctioned 3,000 new buses,” sources told DH.
The freak accident on August 26 which had come to light after CCTV footage of the incident surfaced in the media showed the wheel of the bus rolling across the road as the bus screeched to a halt.
The incident had occurred at TVS Cross at around 9:15 am and the particular Parisara Vahini bus was in service for more than nine years. It had left Peenya depot for the Majestic Bus Stand.
At that time, BMTC staff had called it a “freak incident” suggesting that “human error of overlooking regular maintenance protocols” were responsible for the mishap.
Speaking on the issue, transport expert MN Srihari told TNM that it is the BMTC staff who was at fault.
"The wheels are connected to the axle by nuts and bolt. It is the duty of the staff to ensure that they are not loose before venturing out for the day. The staff should carry out something similar to a cockpit check done in flights before take off. The Depot Manager should be made accountable for any such accidents. He should prepare a checklist and circulate among the staff," he said.
This means that buses operate even after running the maximum of 8.5 lakh kilometres. This also costs the exchequer as maintenance bills outweigh procurement cost after this stipulated mileage, the CAG report said.