3 min readMumbaiSep 7, 2013 01:43 AM IST
First published on: Sep 7, 2013 at 01:43 AM IST
The BEST undertaking will conduct an inquiry into whether its standard operating procedure (SOP) for accident victims was breached after a BEST committee member complained Thursday about the undertaking’s ‘apathy’ towards its employees. The member alleged that the BEST’s response to an accident involving one of its buses in Bhandup (West) on August 31 was “indifferent”,despite the victim’s late husband and three sons all having been BEST employees.
The BEST’s SOP says that in any accident involving a BEST bus,an official should promptly visit the spot to provide any assistance required. However,no such visit took place even an hour after the Bhandup accident.
As per the SOP,the conductor or driver concerned should inform the control room about the accident,which in turn should relay information to the nearest depot. Officials from the depot and accident claim authorities should also visit the spot to determine the compensation amount.
Banubai Chandra Awale (83) was crushed under the wheels of a BEST mini bus at Maharashtra Nagar bus stop near Mangat Ram Petrol Pump in Bhandup west at 11 am on August 31. The “administrative indifference towards its staffers” was raised by BEST committee member Ashok Patil Thursday. Patil lives in the area and was among the first to reach the accident spot.
Daya Chandra Awale (49),Banubai’s second son,said,“I got a call from Ashok Patil informing me about the accident and rushed to the spot.”
Daya’s younger brother Amarnath (45),who works in the electric supply department at the Colaba BEST depot,said,“My mother was returning from a temple when she met with the accident.”
Amarnath’s eldest brother Sanjay Chandra Awale (55) was also a BEST employee before he left the organisation and returned to their native village. Their father,late Chandra Dadu Awale,also served BEST for more than 25 years before his death in 1980.
While Daya said that the administration had immediately provided compensation of Rs 5,000,both brothers refused to comment on the apathy shown towards the family.
“It is shocking that no one came to help the family even an hour after the accident. Why did no BEST official reach the spot?,” said Ashok Patil.
BEST general manager O P Gupta said,“An inquiry will be conducted into whether our SOP for accident victims was followed in this case and action will be initiated against the officer concerned if any lapse is found. If there is a fault in the procedure,it will be rectified.”
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