Whom to Be Blamed for Tragic Chevella Bus Accident ?

Today’s RTC bus accident at Hyderabad–Chevella highway near Mirjaguda, claimed 25 innocent lives which could have been avoided. The incident has left Telangana in deep shock and raised one big question on who should be held responsible for the accident, is it driver, activists, government or the local politicians and contractors.

Reports from the ground reveal that the RTC bus involved was heavily overcrowded. While a regular RTC bus of express deluxe carries about 52 passengers, this one had nearly 75 passengers plus the driver and conductor. The bus, struggling under the heavy load and thanks to the bad roads, the tipper lorry that was coming with a heavy load of gravel stones crashed head on head with the bus in this unfortunate incident.

Why was the bus so full? Some of the netizens blame the Telangana government’s “Free Bus Scheme” for women. To accommodate the scheme, many RTC express services were reduced, forcing rural areas to depend on fewer buses. The result is complete chaos of dangerous overcrowding and now in this case, it is quite evident with the loss of lives including in which the small children did die too.

The tragedy also highlights the long-standing issue of the Chevella highway itself which is a narrow road with sharp turns reaching 170% of its capacity, that has not been widened for a long time till now, where locals have repeatedly demanded widening. It has been delayed for years due to a certain political struggle and disputes over cutting heritage banyan trees that was also contested in the court for over the years. Despite the growing traffic and public demand over the years, reports indicate that not a single day has passed without at least one non-fatal or fatal accident occurring on this highway.

Back in 2023 Dec, National Green Tribunal ( NGT ) directed National Highway Authority of India ( NHAI ) to conduct EAI and submit the report and NHAI did conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment study and submitted a report, after which even NHAI got clearance to translocate banyan trees last year. Still the activists have filed another petition to stop this process and the delay continues causing more deaths on this deadly highway with today’s tragedy, the grief continues.

Today’s outrage at the accident site shows the people’s frustration. Locals shouted slogans of “MLA Down Down!” and threw stones in anger when Congress MLA Kalle Yadaya arrived. Their grief that people carried over the years has now turned into anger blaming politicians for delays and negligence.

This tragedy isn’t just about one driver or one bus, it’s a major issue where many complex problems include from human negligence to political short sightedness that has now resulted in loss of 25 lives which cant come back. The last thing the government could do now is to take responsibility and make sure at least no other family would suffer the same tragedy like this in future.